Red Flash over Pitt? When a 270th-rated college basketball team in the country beats an ACC opponent, it is a huge upset.

St. Francis' Maxwell Land after burying a trey against Pitt

What does the first win in 30 tries say about the Red Flash? 

We know what it says about the Panthers.

Photo: Tribune-Review


… how far the Panthers have fallen


When I saw a score on Twitter that indicated that the St. Francis Red Flash were running over the University of Pittsburgh, I thought that maybe it was a women’s score. 


However, the Red Flash pulled out an 80-70 victory over the Panthers at the Petersen Events Center on Thanksgiving Eve, shocking everyone from the Pitt media and fans on Twitter to the St. Francis faithful who saw their team win its first game over Pitt in 30 tries. 


What makes the situation even more incongruous is that the Red Flash were picked in a preseason poll by Northeast Conference SIDs to finish sixth in the league, which is rated 28th out of 34 by Jeff Sagarin’s preseason rankings. 


The Red Flash led by 13 at the half and built that to 20 in the second half before the Panthers narrowed it to single digits in the final minutes. 


Panthers devastated


Pitt Coach Jeff Capel inherited a mess three years ago but the former Duke assistant appeared to be making some progress with some decent recruiting and improvement in game coaching. 


What happened here was unbelievable to him,


“They were very, very ready to play. They were really good. They controlled the game from the beginning,” Pitt coach Jeff Capel said of St. Francis. 


“Disappointing for us. Very, very disappointing for us. Especially to start the game, we didn’t have the energy that’s required for us to have a good team. I’m not really sure why. It took us a half to get that energy.”


Kevin Gorman, “St. Francis builds big halftime lead, holds on to stun 

Pitt in season opener,” Tribune-Review, November 25, 2020


Making it worse, the Panthers have never lost a season opener at the “Pete,” and that is usually because you should a team that is rated 270th out of about 330 Div. I teams. 


However, the Panthers were picked to finish 13th out of 15 in the ACC, so Capel’s rebuilding effort may be more monumental that some fans were hoping.


Huge Red Flash win


Teams that are huge underdogs often play well in the first half against stronger teams, but the powerful teams like those in the fourth-rated Atlantic Coast Conference most often come out with tremendous energy in the second half. 


That did not happen as the Red Flash built a bigger lead right away,


And Pitt was 15-0 in season openers at the Pete, winning by an average margin of 21.3 points.


Yet three minutes into the second half, Pitt trailed 55-35. The Red Flash had five players score in double figures, led by senior guard Ramir Dixon-Conover’s game-high 21 points, and shot 43% from the field (27 of 63). They sank nine 3-pointers and scored 27 points off PItt’s 23 turnovers.


It was an ominous start for the Panthers (0-1), given that St. Francis was picked to finish sixth in an NEC preseason poll. The Panthers returned three starters, added a scorer in transfer Ithiel Horton and a freshmen class with five recruits, including top-100 forward John Hugley.


Kevin Gorman, Tribune-Review, November 25, 2020


The Flash were led by Ramiir Dixon-Conover with 21 points as he hit 5-of-9 from the floor and added nine points in free throws, and five players hit double figures. 


Making it even more memorable was the fact that St. Francis had not defeated an ACC team since a win over Boston College in 1976, 44 years.


While Coach Rob Krimmel’s team was not expected to be as good as it has been the past few years, this performance could propel it to another season in which it contended for an NEC title. 

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