PITTSBURGH — On Saturday afternoon, Pitt (8-3, 0-1 ACC) took down South Carolina State — one of the worst teams in Division One basketball — by 37 at the Petersen Events Center.
Pitt opened the game with a new starting lineup, featuring Will Jeffress and Guillermo Diaz-Graham in place of Zack Austin and Federiko Federiko. Heading into the game, the Panthers were favored by 27 points against the Bulldogs, who, at 3-8, were one of the worst teams at the Division One level.
However, despite the young Bulldogs’ early-season struggles, they kept things close with Pitt for the majority of the first half. After 14 minutes of play, Pitt led 26-20. The Panthers had already turned the ball over four times in that span, and could not convert on eight early Bulldogs turnovers.
In the final three minutes of the half, Pitt went on a 10-0 run kickstarted by a Jaland Lowe three pointer out of a timeout. Diaz-Graham had five points in the first half of his first start of the season, while Jeffress added one assist, one block, and one steal in the frame. Hinson paced the offensive effort early on, hitting five of his first eight field-goal attempts en route to 14 first-half points.
South Carolina State, coached by longtime West Virginia assistant Erik Martin, struggled to shoot the ball in the frame, hitting just eight of its 31 field-goal tries (26%) and two of its 13 three-point attempts (15%).
In the second half, South Carolina State hit two easy buckets to open the frame as Pitt turned it over twice in the first three minutes. After a nice pass inside from Diaz-Graham at the 17-minute mark, Jeffress hit a layup to break the scoreless streak and expand Pitt’s lead back up to 14.
Pitt piled on throughout the rest of the half, as seven different Panthers scored in the first ten minutes of the frame. Zack Austin hit the score sheet with a put-back slam dunk, Jorge Diaz-Graham hit a corner three to get on the board, and Lowe hit another three. With nine minutes to go, Pitt led by 25.
Down the stretch, the Panthers continued to keep the lead high despite reaching ten turnovers for the sixth time this season. Pitt eventually closed out the victory behind a 19-point effort from Hinson (7-for-10 shooting).
Guard Bub Carrington scored five points and grabbed seven rebounds in the victory, while Leggett paced the back court with a strong 14-point, six-rebound, five-assist stat line. Guillermo Diaz-Graham scored five points, grabbed a team-high eight rebounds, and swatted away three shot attempts in his first start of the year. Austin added 12 points off the bench, and Federiko added eight. As a team, Pitt shot 50% from the field, and 38% from three-point range.
For the Bulldogs, Atiba Taylor scored 14, while Michael Teal added seven on 2-for-4 shooting. As a team, South Carolina State shot 29% from the field, 18% from three-point range, and turned the ball over 18 times.
With the win, the Panthers advance to 8-3 (0-1 ACC) on the year and will now take on Purdue-Fort Wayne on Wednesday, Dec. 20 at 7 p.m. at the Petersen Events Center.
