On Thursday, one of the top teams in the ACC dropped a game to Drake.
The Miami Hurricanes fell to the Drake Bulldogs 69-80 on Thursday afternoon in the Charleston Classic MTE.
Miami was a 9.5-point favorite heading into the game. Nijel Pack, Jalen Blackmon, and Matthew Cleveland led the way for the Hurricanes, scoring 17, 12, and 12 points, respectively. Bennett Stirtz and Daniel Abreu led the Bulldogs to the victory, scoring 21 and 18 points, respectively. Abreu grabbed ten rebounds in the win for a double-double.
Drake is in the midst of year-one under new head coach Ben McCollum, who signed a five-year deal to become the program’s head coach in April 2024. McCollum replaced Darian DeVries, the current West Virginia head coach.
McCollum spent 15 years as the head coach of Division-Two powerhouse Northwest Missouri State, winning two national titles and going 394-91 in his time there.
Pitt will take on Miami on Saturday, Feb. 15 at 12 p.m. at the Petersen Events Center. The Hurricanes were picked to finish 6th in the league’s preseason poll, while the Panthers were predicted to finish 7th.
Pitt’s next game will be played on Friday, Nov. 22 at The Greenbrier in West Virginia. The Panthers will take on the LSU Tigers in The Greenbrier Tip Off multi-team event, with the winner advancing to the championship to play against the winner of UCF Vs. Wisconsin. That championship game will be played at 4 p.m. on Sunday, while the third-place game will take place at 2:30 p.m. on Sunday. Stay tuned on Pittsburgh Sports Now for coverage of the event.
