DePaul came out shooting and with energy. Pitt did not. It took Pitt about the first 10-12 minutes of the game to start shaking things off and playing better. During that period, DePaul was just looking faster than Pitt. They were able to keep Pitt from getting clean looks, they got to the loose balls and rebounds faster and were able to get clean shots. Pitt was just slower looking.
It also helped that DePaul was making their shots. They had the shots and hit them. A team that only averaged around 31% on 3s started out hitting 3-4. They came out hitting their first 5 shots, and overall they hit 9-11 in the first 7 minutes. That’s how Pitt found themselves down 21-8. Chandler and Mejia were the big beneficiaries of Pitt’s slow start. The 2 combined for 9-11 shooting and 20 points in the half. The rest of the team shot 5-18
In that same 7 minute stretch, Pitt was 3-8 and turned the ball over 3 times. For the entire half, Pitt found itself running in spurts and sputters. Hitting a few shots in a row, missing a few. No real flow or order to the offense.
The defense started coming around first. Creating more pressure and turnovers. The shots were more tightly contested as Pitt adjusted to DePaul taking the mid-range jumpers. DePaul had trouble trying to get the ball inside more and find the uncontested shot.
One of Pitt’s key second half adjustments was simply not letting Chandler and Mejia get the same opportunities. Really, putting bodies on them to prevent the jumpers. Make the rest of the Blue Demons make shots. Chandler was completely taken out of the picture, only going 1-4 in the second half. Mejia, who could penetrate more, was a little more productive with 3-6 shooting. Still, neither was able to get the shot opportunites they had earlier.
On offense, Pitt went completely inside and stopped committing turnovers. Pitt had 11 in the game, but only 4 in the second half. Gray was the main culprit with 4 turnovers. Going inside on drives or passes inside not only led to high percentage shots, but got the team to the free throw line. As per, Pitt’s inconsistency from game-to-game, Pitt shot 20-28 from the free throw line (16-21 in the second half).
Krauser and Gray were excellent and really led the team in the second half. Krauser had 19 points on 7-15 shooting (3-5 on 3s) — an eFG% of 56.7% — 5 rebounds, 6 assists, 2 steals and only 1 turnover. Gray had another double-double with 20 points (7-14), 12 rebounds, 5 blocks, 2 assists, 1 steal and 4 turnovers.
Levance Fields and Sam Young are not just good young players, but are becoming very efficient, unselfish players. They combined for 20 points on 6-9 shooting and 8-10 from the free throw line. Both played very sound defense. I really liked what I saw from Young on defense, because he was in much better position to avoid the dumb fouls. Just better footwork and awareness, rather than just assuming his athletic ability would do the job.
My only concern was in the final 5 minutes or so. Krauser went out of the game because of some cramps, and Pitt started having trouble closing the game out. Pitt went from being up 9 to only 5 with a little under 3 minutes left, and not looking totally focused. Krauser was forced to come back in and help re-settle the team. It was the second game in a row, Pitt had trouble closing the game without Krauser out there. It isn’t completely unexpected at this point, but a concern.
Overall, a game that was about as expected. A rusty start after 8 days off, and a strong second-half as the team got comfortable once more with playing.
