Jeff Capel, Pittsburgh have to be restrained following chaotic handshake line in loss to FSU

Tensions rose following the handshake line after Pitt‘s 82-70 loss to Florida State on the road Wednesday night.

Panthers head coach Jeff Capel was depicted emotional after the game, appearing to point toward the FSU tunnel at something, but was not captured off screen. He was being held back, while at the same time multiple security guards and police officers formed a wall to keep the teams seperate.

Watch the emotional moment below:

Emotions high in FSU’s 82-70 win over Pitt.

Jeff Capel, his staff and players have to be restrained after the handshake line. Down near the FSU locker room exit. pic.twitter.com/ps9AoFds2A

— Warchant.com (@Warchant) January 16, 2025

Florida State’s Malique Ewin made a dunk with one second left on in regulation to solidify the final score. It appears as though the Pitt men’s basketball team took exception to this gesture which caused the handshake line scuffle.

Ewin finished with 18 points and 13 rebounds for the Seminoles, good for his third-straight double-double in ACC play. Meanwhile, Jamir Watkins scored a game-high 26 points to lead all scorers on Wednesday night.

The Seminoles took a 28-23 lead into halftime but an early second-half run put FSU well in front and they never looked back. They shot 10 of 14 as a team from the floor to open the second half that included a 10-0 run. By the 13-minute mark, they led by as many as 14 points.

Pitt would battle back from there. Florida State’s largest lead of the night was 16, but the Panthers would come back to make the game more competitive down the stretch. Florida State would eventually shot 20 free throws across the final six minutes of regulation and made 17 of them, including 9 of 10 in the last two minutes of the game as Pitt tried to extend the game.

Jaland Lowe was the Panthers’ leading scorer with 22, while Diaz Graham scored a career-high 17 points against the Seminoles.

While the late-game moment may be what many will remember from this game, it still stands as a phyisical, hard-earned victory for the Seminoles. 42 total fouls were called during the matchup, although there were no flagrant or technical fouls called. Both teams combined to shoot 55 total free throws during the contest.

FSU and Pitt are both now 3-3 in conference play and sit at 12-5 overall. Both will be looking to seperate themselves from the rest of the pack in the ACC heading into Febraury.