Pitt and Georgia Tech enter Wednesday night’s meeting in Atlanta in desperate need of a winning turn.
Both teams lost at home to Syracuse last week. The Yellow Jackets then fell 91-81 at Miami on Saturday.
Pitt (7-9, 0-3 ACC) has lost six of its last eight games.
“Disappointed in our attention to detail,” Panthers coach Jeff Capel said. “There’s a lot of stuff we have to do to be the team our guys say we want to be. … We can’t be a team that’s good at times.”
Georgia Tech (10-7, 1-3) is carrying a two-game skid.
“There’s pockets during the game where we tend not to execute,” coach Damon Stoudamire said. “We’ve got to eliminate that if we’re going to try to be a good team.”
Kowacie Reeves Jr. leads the Yellow Jackets in scoring with 16.1 points per game, while there has been solid depth with freshman Akai Fleming fifth on the team at 9.5. Reeves has scored 23 points in two of the past four games.
The status of Georgia Tech center Mouhamed Sylla is in question because of a lower-body injury, though he has practiced this week. He played less than 2 1/2 minutes in the Miami game after missing the two previous games. Stoudamire said he allowed Sylla to return too soon.
There are other areas of concern.
“Right now it’s about getting better,” Stoudamire said. “It’s about keeping guys engaged.”
Pitt’s backcourt has been symbolic of the team’s troubles.
Damarco Minor (10.8 ppg) was held to five points in the 83-72 loss to Syracuse, while freshman backcourt mate Omari Witherspoon lost four turnovers.
“We have not had a game when all of our guards have played well together,” Capel said. “Not one. … We don’t have a lot of depth. We don’t have a lot of experience.”
“What it comes down to is we’ve got to get stops,” Pitt guard Brandin Cummings said. “We’ve got a lot of things to clean up and hopefully we can clean up things in practice before the next game.”
For the season, Pitt has committed 180 turnovers and benefitted from 178 opponent giveaways.
“Our offense has to help our defense,” Capel said.
–Field Level Media
