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After the news broke last night that freshman Au’Diese Toney would be out for the Clemson game, Pitt showed why he’s an important factor to the team while losing to Clemson 82-69 on the road. In what may have been simply a coincidence, Pitt played arguably its worst game defensively of the entire season. Toney is one of the team’s best defenders, and his presence was definitely missed last night.
Post game, Jeff Capel gave a status update on the freshman:
Jeff Capel said he hopes to have Au’Diese Toney back for Pitt’s game Saturday against Syracuse. There’s nothing broken in his hand, but they determined a few hours before the game tonight that he wouldn’t be able to go
— Craig Meyer (@CraigMeyerPG) January 30, 2019
Pitt’s depth is thin to start with, and losing one of their taller and better players hurt them significantly. Toney is the team’s leading rebounder as well, and having him back for Syracuse on Saturday would be a very welcome development
As Anson mentioned in the recap, Clemson was shooting at an outrageous percentage, and it’s not likely Toney being able to play would have made a significant enough difference to change that or the outcome of the game. He’s a big cog in the team though, and Pitt will need him to help win a few more ACC games.