University of Pittsburgh Athletics
11/6/2026 12:00:00 PM | Men's Basketball
Jeff Capel did not sugarcoat it after Pitt's win over Buffalo.
"We're a work in progress," he said, and he meant it.
The Panthers are 2-0, but neither the Rider game nor the Buffalo game came close to perfect.
There were sluggish stretches, a 13-point halftime hole and a few moments that had Capel pushing his team hard. Still, a few things have stood out through two games, and they give this group something real to build on.
Chase Foster arrives in a hurry
Chase Foster did not wait around to introduce himself.
In his first collegiate game, the freshman scored 23 points against Rider, the most ever by a Pitt freshman in a debut. The old mark of 21 belonged to Ricardo Greer, now Pitt's associate head coach, who set it back in 1997.
Then came Buffalo, and Foster showed it was no fluke — even if it looked like one early.
He scored just three points in the first half, then took over. He finished with 20, 17 of them after the break and 15 in the final 6:43, including a solo 11-0 run that turned a 65-58 lead into 76-58.
He was also one rebound shy of a double-double, adding nine boards to go with two blocks and an assist.
He has a rare blend of strength, athleticism, shooting touch and defensive playmaking, and he is averaging 21.5 points, 7.5 rebounds, 2.0 steals and 2.0 blocks off the bench. He also went 15-for-19 at the free throw line, a sign of how often he is getting downhill and making defenders pay.
Buffalo coach George Halcovage III saw it up close.
"He's a big-time player," Halcovage said. "He's a mismatch nightmare for most teams, and he doesn't look like a freshman. ... He looks like a man, and he played like one tonight. Freshmen have a little bit of a growth period they need to have, but I'm sure Capel is happy that he seems to be playing like a more poised, experienced freshman rather than a guy that needs to get games under his belt. They could be really good if he continues that."
Plenty of hands in the mix
As good as Foster has been, the most encouraging part of the first two games is that Pitt has not leaned on one player. Two guys reached double figures in both games, Foster with 23 and 20 and Baye Ndongo with 12 and 23.
Ndongo's night against Buffalo deserves its own mention. He put up 23 points and 21 rebounds, the first Pitt player to do that since Justin Champagnie in 2020. He is averaging 17.5 points, 13.5 rebounds and 2.0 steals.
Four others have had their moments too.
Jonathan Powell scored 18 against Rider. He was quiet against Buffalo for most of the night, but he hit two huge threes in the second half. The first, with 10:31 to play, cut the Bulls' lead to 53-49. The second came 40 seconds later and made it a one-point game.
"JP's two threes were huge for us because we couldn't hit anything early in the game," Capel said.
A'lahn Sumler added 12 against Rider and is handing out four assists a game. Jalil Bethea chipped in 10 against Rider and has a high ceiling, and it feels like he is one breakout game away from showing it.
Nait George scored 16 against Buffalo. He is also steadying the whole operation. He is averaging 7.5 assists, and his assist-to-turnover ratio was 8:1 against Rider and 7:2 against Buffalo.
Sure, every team wants a go-to guy, and it is not clear yet who that is for Pitt. But having this many players contribute this early is a real asset.
Pitt finds its fight when it matters
Nobody in the locker room wants to start games the way Pitt did. Against power conference opponents, slow starts can get costly in a hurry. But the Panthers have shown some fight, and that matters just as much.
Against Rider, Pitt led just 13-9 at the under-16 timeout, then built a 26-16 cushion by the under-12 media timeout. Capel was still not satisfied. He saw a first-half lull and a poor first four or five minutes of the second half, and he challenged his team during a break in the action.
"I loved how they responded in that moment," Capel said. "One of the things that I've liked so far about this team is that you can get on them and they don't take it personally."
Buffalo was the bigger test. Pitt trailed by 13 at halftime. Instead of folding, the Panthers outscored the Bulls 48-16 in the second half and won by 19. George's pair of free throws with 8:59 left gave Pitt the lead for good, and the Panthers never let up.
George knows the margin for error will not always be that generous.
"We don't want to shoot ourselves in the foot like that early, because there are some teams that once you get down, you can't make it back," George said. "So, just cleaning that up and coming up with that pop and energy like we did in the second half, instead of just having to rely on resilience. But push come to shove, we'll figure it out."
Capel agreed.
"I love the fight and the resiliency and the heart that we showed there in the second half," he said. "Again, we still have a long way to go, but a great lesson for us."
That is where this team is right now, with plenty of room to grow and a lot to be encouraged by.
