On Friday afternoon, Pitt and LSU were locked in a battle at The Greenbrier when star guard Jaland Lowe picked up a technical foul in the final seconds of the first half.
Lowe had just driven to the hoop, lost the ball for his fourth turnover of the game, and surrendered the lead to the Tigers, who opened up the game ice cold.
While the Tigers entered the half with the game’s momentum in their favor, Lowe, who Pitt head coach Jeff Capel refers to as a veteran, was not going to let this one slip away.
In the second half, Lowe and his Panthers took over.
Pitt exploded out of the half with a three pointer on the right wing from Lowe, who looked amped-up for the second frame after the rough ending to the first frame. Leggett added a steal, and Corhen threw home a slam dunk, to quickly give the Panthers a 7-0 run in the first minute and change.
The extended to 9-0 with a Dunn jump shot, and reached 13-0 with four more points from Zack Austin, who replaced Dunn after he quickly reached four fouls. While Pitt went 5-5 from the field to begin the half, the Tigers struggled to the tune of 0-12, failing to score until nearly seven minutes in.
When LSU cut the lead down to five, Pitt’s Lowe hit a three pointer, his third of the game, to build Pitt’s advantage back up to eight. Minutes later, Lowe drained another, once again out of the pick and roll. He stretched his personal run up to eight-straight points with a floater, building Pitt’s lead into double digits.
Dunn fouled out for Pitt, picking up a flagrant penalty with seven minutes to play. LSU turned that play into momentum, cutting Pitt’s lead down to five points. Pitt’s Leggett quickly countered with an and-one floater of his own.
In the final five minutes, Pitt earned a quick four-point swing after Lowe made two free throws, Cam Carter picked up a technical foul for LSU, and Lowe converted two more from the charity stripe.
Leading by seven with three minutes to play, Leggett drove to the rack and finished strong to extend Pitt’s lead up to nine. Pitt cruised to the victory, and clinched the win with a dagger off the hands of, yet again, Lowe.
Lowe finished with a career high 22 points, along with eight rebounds and six assists. Leggett added 21 points, six rebounds, and five assists.
The two teams both struggled out of the gates, but the Panthers were the first team to build a lead. After Damian Dunn picked up two early fouls, freshman Beebah Cummings earned early minutes and made the most of them. He hit a three pointer with just over nine minutes in the half, giving Pitt an 18-10 lead.
However, after missing their first four three-point tries, the Tigers drained their next two, cutting into Pitt’s lead. The action continued to heat up, with Ishmael Leggett draining a three for Pitt on the ensuing possession.
Leggett was the first player into double-digit scoring for the Panthers, scoring his ninth and tenth points of the game on a beautiful up-and-under layup with his left hand minutes later. In the final minutes of the first half, LSU stormed back into the game with buckets from Corey Chase and star freshman Vyctorius Miller. Lowe fumbled the ball on a drive to the basket in the final seconds of the half, and when a foul wasn’t called, he took it up with the nearby referee. Lowe earned a technical foul for his words, and LSU took its first lead of the game, 28-27, heading into the break.
With the win, Pitt moves to 6-0 on the season. The Panthers will now play against the winner of UCF Vs. Wisconsin on Sunday at 5:30 p.m., once again at The Greenbrier. The Tigers will now play at 3 p.m. on Sunday in the third-place game against the loser of UCF Vs. Wisconsin.
nice win. was closer than final score indicates. not sure what happened to Dunn. Lowe and Leggett played all 40 … hope they get some rest tomorrow. H2P !
Pitt only played 7 players.. Is that what we will see in this season in conference games?
They mentioned in the VMI game that Capel is holding back 2 or 3 players from getting minutes because they are not fuly healthy yet. I think they are talking about the 20+ year old Euro freshman and Kante but am not positive. Hopefully they get a little more depth in the lineup.
you say way closer than final score indicates, but you don’t know what happened to Dunn?
maybe I am misunderstanding something in your wording?!
yes, it’s the wording. what happened to make him have such a bad game foul-wise. it was atypical of his performances to date .. i.e., what happened to Dunn.
Dunn was in foul trouble all day..2 quick ones and it effected his whole day…Nice win against a Power Conf opponent..Be nice if they can get the win against Wisconsin on Sunday..Think Capel said Kante and Jorge are coming off of injury and he’s taking it slow with them..Not sure if I agree,but Im not the coach..The season has only begun
This was an impressive victory because Pitt stood tall against some tough competition. It was a close contest till the 5:00 mark. Pitt played with determination and grit to pull this game out. Good win. Let’s win Sunday. HTP.
Tonje for Wisconsin is averaging 22 per game and 45% from 3-point range. Will be a good test for the guards.
This is definitely what Jeff Capel envisioned when he took over Pitt almost 7 years ago. It definitely took him longer than he wanted, but he has Pitt on the rise. They aren’t where they were when they left the Big East Conference 11 years ago, but they are definitely on the rise.
A win over Wisconsin tomorrow, would really add to their resume early on.