PITTSBURGH — Xavier Johnson began Wednesday night in an unfamiliar position, watching the opening tip of Pitt’s game against Virginia Tech from his cushioned seat on the team’s sideline.
It was only the second time in his 80 career games at the school that he didn’t start, a move that came four days after he had just five points in a 26-point loss to Notre Dame, a game he fouled out of with nearly 12 minutes left to play.
If there was a message coach Jeff Capel was looking to send to his junior point guard by not having him on the court at the beginning of the game, well, consider it received.
Coming off one of the worst games of his college career, Johnson put together one of his best, coming off the bench to score a career-high with 32 points and dish out a team-high seven assists in an 83-72 victory against the No. 16 Hokies at Petersen Events Center.
The win snapped a three-game losing streak that derailed a strong 10-game start to the season and, given the lopsided nature of the defeat against the Fighting Irish, appeared to signal that worse days may be ahead.
Johnson made 11 of his 17 shots, including a 4-of-7 mark from 3-point range. Entering the evening, he had made just seven of his 33 attempts (21.2%) from beyond the arc in ACC play.
It wasn’t just Johnson who rebounded from a disastrous performance, either. Ithiel Horton, his backcourt mate, finished with 15 points and made four of his nine 3s. He did so after also failing to start for the first time this season. Horton, a Delaware transfer, had left the Notre Dame game in the final four minutes and walked back to the Panthers’ locker room before the game even ended after an exchange with coach Jeff Capel.
It marked their first win against a ranked team since a January 2019 victory against then-No. 11 Florida State.
Not long removed from its most gutting loss of the season, Pitt opened the game with an energy that wasn’t seen at any point against Notre Dame.
Johnson — who checked in the game only about five minutes in — made three of his first four 3s, helping to carry his team’s offense as Justin Champagnie’s impact on that end of the floor was limited, at least compared to what it normally is. Champagnie, the team’s leading scorer and rebounder, finished with 10 points and 13 rebounds, the former of which matched a season low.
What had been a back-and-forth game for much of the night started to open up in the final 10 minutes, with Pitt building a five-point advantage following an Au’Diese Toney three-point play with 8:26 remaining.
While Virginia Tech was able to withstand that run, they weren’t able to do so the next time around. Beginning with a Horton 3, the Panthers (9-5, 5-4 ACC) scored 13 unanswered points, five of which came from Toney, in a span of 2:46, turning what had been a tightly contested game into a 15-point lead with 4:24 remaining.
Toney was the fourth and final Pitt player to finish in double figures, scoring 14 points and pulling down six rebounds.
