What wasn’t baked into the play was Kapke’s decision to move the ball to Fred Payne. Two defenders converged on Kapke after he received the pass, so the six-foot, 11-inch big man forced the ball away from his contested shot. Payne was the secondary option on the dribble-drive, but a second double-team against BC’s leading scorer pushed the ball back to Kapke.
Surrendering the shot for a second look allowed Payne and Kapke to create a better opportunity as the shot clock patiently ticked towards a zero. Left open for a second look, the Butler transfer readied himself and unloaded a pure shot that splashed the awaiting basket. Twenty-two seconds remained, but the inevitable dagger fully sank Pittsburgh’s road trip to Massachusetts in the form of a 65-62 victory that entrenched BC’s toughness behind its former Big East big man.
“Maybe it’s something that we had to learn through [this season],” said Grant after BC’s win. “When you coach for 30 years, you sort-of get used to having nine returners, senior leadership and all of that stuff. So you have to give the players credit because we had eight new guys show up to campus with a season starting two months [later]. Nobody knew each other, we had different terminology and a different system [than what they were used to]. What we’re seeing now is that we’ve been together and been through some adversity and some success, and we’re starting to learn the things that get us closer as a team. We’re understanding what we are trying to do offensively, and we’re executing a little bit better by playing tough on defense.”
Pitt entered Wednesday’s game with an anchor on its steady inside-out style of play. Center Cameron Corhen represented a throwback player capable of delivering a 40-minute paint performance against any particular style while guard Brandin Cummings carried the perimeter movement to an average of 14 points and two assists per night. A goal to minimize turnovers slowed the backcourt until the Panthers could execute a fastbreak, but their quick-burst capability stemmed from breaking down opponents on the back end of the court.
Matching that output required Grant to install creativity within BC’s overall game plan, and he quickly opted to move Kapke’s natural center position into a size-based mismatch against power forward Roman Siulepa. He kept Jayden Hastings and Aidan Shaw in a spot that would draw Corhen’s defensive posture away from the basket in a man-to-man setting, but the latter intention could swap Kapke into the high post when the Panthers decided to switch to a zone formation.
The gamble paid dividends from the opening jump, and BC emerged from a gritty first half street fight with a six point lead because of Kapke’s ability to get open shot looks at the basket. Inherently a player with face-up and back-to-the-basket ability, he scored 12 points on 5-of-9 shooting while grabbing five boards in 19 first half minutes while defending a post that ended with Pitt missing 14 different layup attempts.
“We haven’t been great at finishing at the rim all year,” admitted Pittsburgh head coach Jeff Capel. “It’s something that we try to emphasize in practice. We’ve shown it from the very beginning, when you get around the basket, you have to understand that this is a contact sport. There’s going to be contact, there are going to be confrontations. As a player, you have to be focused on the rim and not worry about the contact. It’s something that we try to practice with pads, with bodies, with all kinds of different things. Obviously, it hasn’t translated.”
Pitt’s later awakening from its first half slumber enabled the game flow to land on a more traditional second half outburst, but BC generated its own brand of inside-out motion as the Panthers began taking more aggressive chances. They indeed switched to a zone, but the inserted protection against the post and mid-range unearthed Payne’s dual-threat shot. Going for 16 points on 6-of-10 shooting and 3-of-5 from outside, he became the perfect complement to Kapke’s ongoing seven-point half and the emergence of Chase Forte’s six point and three assists.
“We were just trying to be opportunistic,” said Kapke. “If I ran down the floor and had a seal, I could take it. If I didn’t, we’d fall back into our offense and take our time to look for the best shot. I just tried to see when opportunities came about, and I tried to seal [defenders] to get to my spot.
“My guys trust me,” explained Payne, “and that’s where my confidence comes from. I’m always going to be confident, so as long as we have choices and trust each other, it’s just great basketball all around. So I want to keep having that confidence to keep driving and shooting like I am.”
The natural progression led directly to BC’s final play call and a well-traveled and well-versed execution. Forte’s surveyance from the point guard position had secondary options to his left before Kapke approached with a freeing pick, and Kapke had options to either shoot in traffic or move the ball back to Forte if Payne wasn’t there for the drive. The pass to Payne drew three defenders away from the primary shooter, which in turn illustrated the secondary offer on the back end with Kapke.
Every instance within the multiple choice offense required vision and knowledge, chemistry and creativity, turning down a good shot for a better look. Pure athleticism and individuality blended into enough sacrifice for the greater good while simultaneously avoiding an overcommittal to the next pass. The right shooter got the ball, and the team succeeded.
“That’s why a season is a duration,” said Grant. “A journey is a duration, so as long as you continue to move your feet in the right direction, you stay together as a group, you continue to work with enthusiasm, you continue to look yourself in the mirror…you can play your best basketball in March. We’ve been through a lot, and I’m trying to stay present. I don’t want to think about those old games. There have been a lot of nail-biters, but I’m just happy that we were able to get over the hump. Guys are practicing hard, really trying to believe in what we’re doing, and hopefully we can build and keep going.
