According to the beat writers that follow Pitt, senior Blake Hinson is seldom a man of few words.
Prior to Tuesday’s game against Virginia, Hinson plainly pointed out to his teammates what was in store for them upon arrival in Charlottesville.
Hinson made note of Virginia being one of the country’s best defensive teams.
He also made sure every player was aware that the Cavaliers had won eight straight games and 23 straight games inside John Paul Jones Arena.
The talk must have gotten the attention of the Panthers, as they ended both UVA streaks, winning 74-63.
And Hinson not only talked the talk, well, you know the rest.
Hinson scored 27 points and made five of Pittsburgh’s 14 three-pointers as the surging Panthers improved to 7-6 in ACC action and 16-8 overall.
Pitt has now won six of its last seven games, including wins at Duke and now at Virginia.
“He’s a hard matchup,” Virginia coach Tony Bennett said of Hinson. “We had a hard time; we couldn’t handle him tonight.”
No arguing with that coach.
After the contest Hinson made it clear he feels Pitt is an NCAA Tourney team.
“This team is playing at an NCAA Tournament level, and at an ACC championship level,” Hinson said.
One quick look at the final statistics, and again, no arguing with that assessment.
Virginia entered the matchup allowing just 57.7 points a game, second best in the nation.
After starting the game on 1-of-5 from the floor, Pitt connected on four of its next five three-pointers.
Virginia was just unable to figure out Hinson Tuesday.
Looking back a few weeks, neither was Duke.
In Pitt’s road win against then-No.7 Duke, Hinson shined when the bright lights came on, scoring 24 in the Panthers’ 80-76 win.
Scoring 27 and 24 points in two of the conference’s toughest road environments gives a player some slack on talking the talk.
And Hinson did, holding court outside the Pitt locker room.
“We made the big plays, we made the tough plays, and that’s what it takes to win. I’m going to pat my teammates on the back for the next few hours,” said Hinson.
Pitt’s win was the Panthers’ fifth road ACC win in seven games.
When asked what made Pitt so good on the road, Hinson said it was like his life’s journey.
“It’s the excitement of everybody doubting you. That’s been my life story. It definitely perks me up, because that’s where I come from, that’s been my whole life,” said Hinson.
So, while Hinson feels the Panthers are going dancing in March, Pitt head coach Jeff Capel chose a bit more conservative approach.
“It’s a lot of season left,” Capel said. “I think we played well tonight. We’re playing well. All we’re trying to do is to be 1-0, like we are right now. We will enjoy this. Tomorrow we will start getting ready for Louisville. Hopefully after Saturday, we can go 1-0.”
Last week, in a column I argued that the national narrative regarding the ACC being weak was hogwash.
Instead, I countered that it was simply balanced.
Tuesday night’s play in the ACC strengthened my case.
Pitt, struggling to get on the right side of the NCAA bubble, won in Charlottesville.
Meanwhile in upstate New York, Syracuse handed league-leading North Carolina an 86-79 loss. The Orange entered the contest 6-7 in the ACC and was more likely to play in the dreaded Tuesday or Wednesday games in next month’s conference tournament.
Weak, no. Balanced, yes.
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