Pitt will host Northern Illinois on Saturday, Dec. 5, the team announced on Tuesday, completing its non-conference schedule, at least for now.
Tipoff against the Huskies is scheduled for 7 p.m. at Petersen Events Center on Saturday. The game will be broadcast on ACC Network Extra.
The Panthers are 1-1 after starting their season with home dates against St. Francis and Drexel and will also play non-conference games at Northwestern on Dec. 9 as part of the ACC-Big Ten Challenge and on Dec. 12 against Gardner-Webb.
The five-game non-conference slate is all the Panthers are planning to schedule for now, though future changes are always possible if there are postponements or cancellations.
The Panthers are 1-0 all-time against Northern Illinois, having defeated the Huskies 59-50 at the Pete last season. Trey McGowens scored 18 points and was 4 of 8 from 3-point range while Xavier Johnson had 11 points and drew seven fouls.
NIU is 0-1 after a 65-61 loss to Illinois-Chicago and is ranked as the No. 235 in the country in adjusted efficiency by KenPom.com. Last season’s leading scorer, guard Eugene German, who had 18 points in the game against the Panthers, graduated as the Huskies’ all-time leading scorer. Forward Lacey James, who had eight points and nine rebounds at Pitt last season, is NIU’s returning leading scorer (8.9 points per game) and rebounders (7.7 rebounds per game).
Pitt and Northern Illinois also met in an exhibition game back in 1934.
