On Wednesday night, Pitt suffered the biggest gut punch of its season so far.
The Panthers, ranked No. 18 in the recent AP poll, fell to Mississippi State, who led wire to wire. The Bulldogs bullied Pitt from the moment the game started, taking advantage of their positional size all over the court. In the first few minutes of the game, Mississippi State took the first punch on the offensive end behind baskets from Cameron Matthews, Michael Nwoko, and Riley Kugel. Four different starters scored as the team jumped out to a 10-2 start.
Pitt struggled to generate much offense outside of star Jaland Lowe. In addition, on the defensive end, they could not contend with Mississippi State’s size and physicality.
Matthews and forward Keshawn Murphy dominated the interior, while guards Claudell Harris, Josh Hubbard, RJ Melendez, and others caught fire outside. In the first half alone, Mississippi State out-rebounded Pitt 27-14, nearly doubling the Panthers total. Cam Corhen turned the ball over four times in the half, while Lowe scrapped his way to nine points. Aside from Lowe, the rest of the Pitt team shot just 6 for 21 from the field in the first half, with Ishmael Leggett going 1 for 7.
In the second half, it was more of the same. The Bulldogs kept their foot on the gas, as Nwoko and Melendez scored emphatic two-pointers to begin the frame once again on a 4-0 run.
In the first five minutes of the half, the Panthers only saw the ball go through the net three times: two three pointers from Lowe, and one free throw from the Houston native. Freshman guard Beebah Cummings added some scoring help throughout the rest of the half, but behind Harris, Matthews, Murphy, and others, the Bulldogs kept this game out of reach for the entirety of the half.
Mississippi State earned the largest win against a ranked opponent in school history with the victory over Pitt. Lowe finished as Pitt’s leading scorer with 19, while Mississippi State’s Murphy led the way with 20 points and seven rebounds. Five Bulldogs scored in double figures in the win.
Pitt shot just 31% from the field compared to Mississippi State’s 58%. Pitt made more three pointers in the loss. Mississippi State out-rebounded Pitt, 49-27, and outscored the Panthers in the paint 52-14.
Pitt falls to 7-2 with the loss, while Mississippi State improves to 7-1 on the year. The win for the Bulldogs continues the SEC’s dominance in this year’s ACC/SEC Challenge.
Pitt will now travel to Blacksburg, Virginia to play against Virginia Tech on Saturday.
