Mar 11, 2022 5 min read

PITTSBURGH – Pitt is sticking with Jeff Capel.

Athletic director Heather Lyke said Friday the Panthers remain committed to Capel, who is 51-69 in four seasons since taking over for Kevin Stallings, including an 11-21 mark this year.

Lyke said in a statement she and Capel “share the disappointment of this past season and expected to be further along in building this program back to a great source of pride for Pitt” but added she is “confident Jeff will continue to assess and evaluate every aspect of our program and work tirelessly to continue building it the right way.”

The Panthers have endured six straight losing seasons since Jamie Dixon left for TCU, his alma mater, in 2016. Stallings lasted just two years before being fired. Capel was brought on to restore the program to respectability but building momentum has been tricky.

Pitt’s seasons under Capel have followed a similar pattern. The Panthers play well early in Atlantic Coast Conference play and fade down the stretch. A three-game winning streak in February that included a win at North Carolina was followed by five consecutive losses to end the season, the last four by at least 20 points.

Capel lamented after getting drilled by Boston College in the opening round of the ACC Tournament that the Panthers need to upgrade their roster if they want to compete. The transfer portal offers a quick fix but time is running out.

“We will do what is necessary to be known as a program that will outwork the opposition and compete with a toughness and intensity that is unrivaled,” Capel said in a statement. “We have the opportunity to turn things around quickly by attacking every aspect of the offseason from player development to recruiting to playing style and coaching philosophy.”

SEC

Texas A&M 67, Auburn 62: Tyrece Radford scored 19 points and Quenton Jackson made five throws in the final minute Friday as Texas A&M beat fourth-ranked Auburn 67-62 in the quarterfinals of the Southeastern Conference Tournament, a loss that could wind up costing the Tigers a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament.

Jackson also had a dunk and a key block late, finishing with 17 points to help Texas A&M (22-11) follow up an 83-80 overtime victory over Florida with another strong outing that enhanced the surging Aggies’ chances of landing at least an at-large berth in the NCAA field.

Jabari Smith led Auburn (27-5) with 17 points.

Tennessee 72, Mississippi State 59: Josiah-Jordan James led five players in double figures 16 points, 14 of them during a six-minute stretch in which ninth-ranked Tennessee pulled away to a 72-59 victory over Mississippi State in the quarterfinals.

Arkansas 79, LSU 67: Au’Diese Toney scored 22 points, JD Notae added 19 and No. 15 Arkansas beat LSU 79-67 in the quarterfinals.

Missouri fires Martin: Missouri fired basketball coach Cuonzo Martin on Friday night, one day after the Tigers finished a 12-21 season with a 76-68 loss to LSU in the second round of the Southeastern Conference Tournament.

Big Ten

Iowa 84, Rutgers 74: Keegan Murray had 26 points and eight rebounds to lead No. 24 Iowa to a 84-74 victory over Rutgers in the Big Ten Tournament quarterfinals.

Fifth-seeded Iowa will meet ninth-seeded Indiana, a surprise winner over top-seeded Illinois, in Saturday’s semifinals.

Indiana 65, Illinois 63: Trayce Jackson-Davis scored 21 points, including three free throws in the closing seconds, and Indiana beat top-seeded and 16th-ranked Illinois 65-63 in the quarterfinals.

Jackson-Davis knocked down two free throws with 26.1 seconds left to put the Hoosiers ahead 64-63. The Illini had two possessions with a chance to take the lead, but Trent Frazier threw a bad pass and Andre Curbelo missed a layup.

Jackson-Davis then made the first of two free throws with 1.7 seconds to go. He missed the second, and time expired as players scrambled for the rebound.

Michigan State 69, Wisconsin 63: Marcus Bingham Jr. matched his career high with 19 points and Tyson Walker scored nine of his 11 points in the final minute and a half to send seventh-seeded Michigan State past No. 12 Wisconsin 69-63 in the quarterfinals.

AAC

Houston 69, Cincinnati 56: Fabian White Jr. had 18 points with eight rebounds and 18th-ranked Houston overcame a 10-point deficit in the second half to beat Cincinnati 69-56 in an American Athletic Conference tournament quarterfinal game Friday.

Big 12

Kansas 75, TCU 62: Ochai Agbaji scored 22 points, two of them coming on a jaw-dropping ally-oop dunk midway through the second half, and sixth-ranked Kansas cruised to a 75-62 victory over TCU and into the title game.

Mitch Lightfoot added 15 points while playing extended minutes in place of injured big man David McCormack, and Remy Martin finished with 10 as the top-seeded Jayhawks advanced to play Texas Tech or Oklahoma on Saturday night.

Big East

Creighton 85, Providence 58: Arthur Kaluma scored 17 points and keyed an overwhelming blitz that sent Creighton to a stunning 85-58 rout of No. 11 Providence and into the championship game.