DURHAM, N.C. — Facing two of the top freshmen big men in the country, Pitt was completely dominated on the inside by Duke’s Wendell Carter, Jr. and Marvin Bagley III in an 81-54 loss to the No. 5 Blue Devils at Cameron Indoor Stadium on Saturday afternoon.
Carter scored 21 points on a ridiculous 9 of 10 shooting, while also collecting eight rebounds. Bagley had 20 points and seven rebounds.
Pitt’s four forwards — Terrell Brown, Kene Chukwuka, Peace Ilegomah and Shamiel Stevenson — combined to score six points.
Duke built an early lead by capitalizing on Pitt’s continued carelessness with the basketball. Turnovers have been an issue for the Panthers all season, and though they got through the early part of the game unscathed, Pitt turned the ball over 10 times in an eight-minute span from the 15-minute mark to the 7-minute mark of the first half. Duke scored 17 points off those 10 turnovers and finished with 24 points off turnovers.
Parker Stewart and Marcus Carr were the lone bright spots for the Panthers. Stewart scored 15. He’s scored more than 10 points in all but one of Pitt’s ACC games. Carr had 12 points, three rebounds and two assists, while turning the ball over just once.
Pitt color broadcaster and former Duke and Pittsburgh Pirates great Dick Groat, who has not been traveling with the team this year, made the trip to Durham and was honored at halftime and presented with a framed jersey in honor of his No. 10 being the first number retired by the Blue Devils.
The Panthers fell to 8-12 overall and 0-7 in ACC play. They will return home to host North Carolina State on Wednesday at Petersen Events Center. That game will tip off at 9 p.m.
