PITTSBURGH — On Friday night, Pitt won every round of the Backyard Brawl at the Petersen Events Center, leading start to finish in a 86-62 win over the rival Mountaineers.
The Panthers, led by Damian Dunn, Ishmael Leggett, and Cam Corhen, dominated rival West Virginia from start to finish, scoring the first points of the game and never once trailing.
Leggett opened the scoring with a right-handed floater, prompting the record-setting Oakland Zoo to launch confetti in the air and make noise. The Panthers fed off the crowd’s momentum early, making six of their first ten shots from the field, including three pointers from Guillermo Diaz Graham, Cam Corhen, and Damian Dunn.
After the under-12 timeout, the Mountaineers strung together two-straight buckets to trim Pitt’s lead to 20-12. However, Pitt quickly put an end to the momentum surge from WVU, as Zack Austin joined in on the three-point barrage.
That three turned out to be the beginning of a dominant 15-2 run for the Panthers, who jumped out to a 21-point lead, 35-14, with more than seven minutes to play in the first half. During the run, Pitt knocked down three more three pointers, coming off the hands of Diaz Graham, Austin, and Dunn.
West Virginia missed each of its first eight three-point attempts, with shots coming from several different Mountaineers. No individual player could get particularly hot for WVU early, but seven different players scored in the half. Pitt held West Virginia star Tucker DeVries in check, holding him scoreless for the first 17 minutes of the game.
In the final two minutes of the first frame, Pitt held West Virginia scoreless, scoring six points of its own. After forcing a West Virginia turnover in the last ten seconds, Pitt’s Jaland Lowe led a speedy fast break the other way up the court, finding Dunn on an alley-oop pass at the rim for two more points. The Panthers doubled up the Mountaineers, 44-22, at the break.
At the break, Pitt held the rebounding advantage, 24 to 11. Dunn had a game-high 11 points, while Corhen added nine, Leggett had eight, and Diaz Graham had six.
To open the second half, Dunn hit yet another three pointer, this time off a dish from Lowe. The Panthers continued to score from all over the floor, staying hot from three-point range and punishing the Mountaineers in the paint. DeVries continued to struggle for WVU, even missing an open layup. West Virginia big man Amani Hansberry also struggled, finishing with two points, and fouling out with more than ten minutes to play.
Pitt ran away with the win, closing out the game with a final score of 86-62.
Dunn finished as Pitt’s leading scorer with 23 points on 7-for-12 shooting. He knocked down a team-high four three pointers in the win, earning his first 20-point game of the year. In addition, Leggett added 15 points on 7-for-13 shooting. Pitt’s two leading rebounders in the win were Diaz Graham and Lowe, who grabbed ten and nine, respectively. Corhen added 14 points and five rebounds as well, going 5 for 8 from the field and hitting his first three pointer of the season.
Lowe went just 2 for 11 from the field in the win for Pitt, scoring eight points.
Pitt (4-0) will now play VMI on Monday, Nov. 18. That game will tip off at 7 p.m.
먹튀검증: https://mtverify.com/
Nice win for Pitt, the back court has a chance to be deep this year. I want to see Kante though, hope he gets some minutes soon. Dunn looked impressive and like a Leggett clone.