Justin Champagnie scores 30, leads Pitt to win over Georgia Tech - TribLIVE

If things seemed beyond ordinary during and after Pitt’s 73-64 victory Saturday against Georgia Tech, here’s a couple of reasons why:

• Jeff Capel felt the need to apologize to his team for getting a technical foul late in what was at the time a five-point game.

“That was really stupid of me,” said Pitt’s coach, who whirled and threw a piece of paper toward his bench when Terrell Brown was called for his fifth foul. “It could have cost us the game.”

• Georgia Tech coach Josh Pastner, sounding sincere, stopped just short of putting Pitt in the 2021 Final Four.

“I think they’re going to be really, really good next season,” he said. “I would be surprised if in preseason rankings, they’re not a top-three or four pick in the ACC.”

• But none of that was as unusual as what Justin Champagnie did to etch his name in the Pitt record books in front of a noisy crowd of 10,754 at Petersen Events Center. Champagnie scored 30 points on 12-of-17 shooting, grabbed nine rebounds and two steals and blocked a shot. His effort marked the fourth time in school history a freshman scored 30, following teammates Trey McGowens (twice) and Xavier Johnson, who did it last year.

“It was a great moment for me. It was a real big confidence-booster,” he said.

But that’s as far as he wanted to go.

“But at the same time, it’s on to the next game,” he said. “I can’t just dwell on me having a good game. My teammates expect me to play good.”

No big deal to Champagnie, but the outcome certainly was important to a Pitt team (15-9, 6-7) that has won one more game than it did last season with at least eight left to play.

“Big-time win,” Capel said. “The end of a really hectic week for us. Third game in seven days.”

Showing little signs of fatigue, Pitt played without injured guards Ryan Murphy (concussion) and Onyebuchi Ezeakudo (ankle). Four starters — Champagnie, McGowens, Johnson and Au’Diese Toney — played 38 minutes or longer.

Johnson never came out of the game and ended up with 11 points, seven assists, three steals and no turnovers.

Nearly as impressive as Champagnie’s shooting touch was Johnson and McGowens combining for all 16 of Pitt’s assists while committing only two turnovers. McGowens had a career-high nine assists and backed up Champagnie with 14 points.

It was a team victory, with Pitt getting good minutes from reserves Eric Hamilton, Gerald Drumgoole Jr. and Karim Coulibaly.

But the day belonged to Champagnie, who increased his scoring average to 12.6.

Afterward, Capel talked about how his prized freshman overcame adversity almost from the first day he stepped on campus.

First, he had surgery on his right pinky finger after playing his senior year of high school with a dislocation.

“He didn’t say anything about it until a week after he was here,” Capel said.

Then, Champagnie almost missed the entire season when it appeared he had a torn ACL in his knee. But he hasn’t missed a game.

“He’s a guy who has a lot of talent. He’s learning how to put it all together,” Capel said. “He’s learning what it requires to be a really good player at this level.

“It’s hard. Everything you want to accomplish is on the other side of hard. It’s something we’ve tried to instill in our players all year. You have to beat hard. You have to conquer hard. You have to work harder, and he’s learning how to do that.”

Champagnie said Capel sat down with him after the loss to Notre Dame last week for one of the many one-on-one conversations the coach likes to have with his players. Champagnie scored 20 points, with 11 rebounds, but he said, “I only woke up in the second half.”

“He told me to come out here and bring energy. Don’t have an on and off switch.”

Said Capel: “He has a toughness about him. As long as he’s willing to work, which I think he will, he has a chance to continue to get better.”

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Jerry DiPaola is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Jerry by email at [email protected] or via Twitter .