Pitt Basketball
Pitt-Murray State Preview: Time, Channel, Betting Odds, Etc.
On Friday night, Jeff Capel’s Pitt Panthers will play game No. 2 of the 2024-25 season against Murray State in a non-conference game in Pittsburgh.
PITT’S OUTLOOK
Pitt blew out Radford in the 2024-25 season opener on Monday night at the Petersen Events Center. The Panthers’ back court shined, with four guards scoring in double figures. Jaland Lowe and Ishmael Leggett were the Panthers’ two leading scorers, while Damian Dunn and Brandin “Beebah” Cummings also scored in double digits. In addition, Cam Corhen and Guillermo Diaz Graham scored 12 and ten points, respectively.
Check out PSN’s takeaways from the opener here. Now, it’s time for the Panthers to win another. Friday night, they will have the chance to take down Murray State, a team rated much higher than Radford in national early-season analytics.
MURRAY STATE (Missouri Valley Conference)
The Racers are 1-0 on the season after beating Division III Bethel University 113-37 on Monday.
HEAD COACH
Steve Prohm (3rd season; second stint as Murray St. HC)
Murray State head coach Steve Prohm returned to Murray State after a stint as head coach of Iowa State men’s basketball.
MURRAY STATE PREVIEW
Six different Racers hit at least three field goals and shot over 50% from the field in Monday’s win. The team is led by guard JaCobi Wood, who averaged 12/4/4 last season. The Racers’ staff did a great job in the portal, bringing in Kylen Milton (UAPB) and Terence Harcum (Appalachian State) among others.
Five players hit more than one three pointer on Monday night for Murray State, including Justin Morgan, who came off the bench and hit four of his seven attempts from beyond the three-point arch in the win. As a team, they went 14 for 25 from downtown. In addition to their shooting, the Racers have a strong interior presence with Nick Ellington, a 6-foot-7, 235-pound forward who averaged 11 points and six rebounds per game last season.
Pitt is ranked No. 32 in KenPom’s preseason rankings, while Murray State is ranked No. 112.
GAME TIME
Pitt Vs. Murray State will start at 7 p.m. EST on ACC Network Extra.
SPREAD
Pitt is an 11.5-point favorite, per DraftKings. The Panthers moneyline is -800, while Murray State is +550 to win straight up. The over/under is hovering around 146.5 points.
TV
You can find Monday’s game on ACC Network Extra.
RADIO
Pitt Vs. Murray State will be live on 93.7 The Fan as well.
