COLUMBUS, OH. — In Friday afternoon’s game against Ohio State, Pitt had to look to its bench when big man Cam Corhen went out with three fouls early in the second half and Guillermo Diaz Graham went down with an injury.
The Panthers’ staff looked straight to Papa Amadou Kante, who hadn’t played since Pitt played VMI.
Kante checked in with 18:59 remaining in the game, and the Panthers, almost immediately, went on a big run. Pitt scored 17 of the next 23 points in the game, and extended its run to 15-0 at one point.
Kante made his first two field goals, including an and-one layup in the paint. He also drained all three of his first three free-throw attempts, making big shot after big shot for the Panthers as they mounted their comeback.
After Corhen checked back in for Pitt, head coach Jeff Capel sent Kante to the bench. However, it wasn’t for long. The redshirt freshman checked back in with 6 minutes to play after resting for four minutes. After turning the ball over, Kante grabbed two offensive rebounds for Pitt with less than four minutes to play. He went to the free-throw line for a 1-and-1 opportunity, and hit another layup as well down the stretch.
Kante made an impact in the final minute of the game — the most intense moments of the day. After contesting a shot on defense and forcing a miss, Kante grabbed an offensive rebound on the ensuing possession that led to a Pitt basket from Jaland Lowe.
In overtime, Kante made another free throw, before fouling out minutes later. He finished with 12 points and four rebounds for the Panthers.
Kante, a 6-foot-10, four-star redshirt freshman big man, was one of the best prospects that Capel has brought into Pitt at the time of his pledge. The Senegal native moved to the United States in 2019, and quickly burst onto the recruiting scene with a strong high-school career at South Kent School (CT).
Preparing for his freshman year last season, Kante injured his knee, requiring surgery. He missed the entire 2023-24 season.
Who won the game? Score?
91-90 pitt in overtime.
Austin sinks 3 pointer with 0.4 seconds on the clock.
Actually, when Austin’s 3 pointer went thru the net, it was 0.2 left on clock and Ohio State was out of time outs, Game Over! 💪😅
HAIL TO PITT!!
Never give up!
Sorry but these games in Peacock sucks.So F’n pissed off
I was watching on Peacock and the game just disappeared with seconds left. Then Oregon State volleyball comes on?????
Kante looking pretty good for his 1st game. It was nice to see Capel put him in once he realized that Diaz-Graham was being bullied inside again and Corhen was in foul trouble.
I like Diaz-Graham but he’s always falling on the floor 😆
Capel needs to keep him out on the wing, and let Cohen and Papa pound down low 💪
Anyone else think the refs were very one sided?
Thought it was okay until overtime, when it seemed like they were handing the game to Ohio State. Does anyone know what the call was against Leggett at the start of OT…all I know is that the announcer said he hadn’t seen that called in a couple of years.
All I know is Papa needs to be in the rotation from here on out…Hindsight being 20/20.He should have played him against Wisconsin when it became clear that Tonje was guarding Diaz-Graham and let Papa gonto work on someone 6 inches smaller