PITTSBURGH — After 22 days away from home court, the Pitt Panthers returned to the Petersen Events Center to face Eastern Kentucky as the Panthers close out the final two games of non-conference action.
Pitt true freshman point guard and Pittsburgh native Brandin “Beebah” Cummings stole the show, scoring a career-high 30 points as the Panthers pulled away in the second half to defeat Eastern Kentucky 96-56.
Cummings caught fire immediately after coming off the bench early as he scored Pitt’s first 12 points. He would connect on 10-of-13 from the floor, including six three pointers.
His 30 points were the most off the bench for a freshman in Pitt history, breaking the previous record held by Brandin Knight against Georgetown in 2000 when he scored 24. The six treys also were tied for the second-most from a freshman with Sean Miller (1987). He came up three points shy of the freshman record set by Trey McGowens in 2019.
Pitt (9-2) shot a season-high 61 percent from the floor, including 11-of-23 from beyond the arc. Zack Austin scored 18 points, while Ishmael Leggett added 17 and six rebounds. Jaland Lowe registered 11 points, along with 12 assists.
Eastern Kentucky (5-5) redshirt sophomore Jordan Crawford drove the offense for the Colonels as he opened the scoring with a 3-pointer. The 6-3 guard was a big reason as to why the Colonels kept up with the Panthers, and at times led in the first half, as he scored 13 in the opening 20 minutes behind three triples.
It took until the 15:49 mark of the first half before Pitt connected on a field goal and it came from Cummings on a 3-pointer.
The young guard from Midland, Pa. seized an early opportunity with Lowe facing foul trouble. Cummings would score the Panthers’ first 12 points that was capped by a pair of triples as Cummings created space off the dribble and buried both shots.
Leggett finally joined Cummings as he would run the floor and score on a layup while also drawing a foul. With Leggett’s free-throw connection, the Panthers went ahead 15-9 thanks to a nine-point run.
While Pitt finally built some rhythm, Eastern Kentucky worked on the offensive side of the floor, collecting six offensive rebounds in the first half that translated into 14 second-chance points.
Several of those points came beyond the arc from George Kimble III as he scored 11 in the opening frame. Crawford also continued to score for the Colonels, including an off-balanced triple that banked home off the backboard. That shot thrust his squad back in front 34-32 with 1:47 to go in the half.
A pair of layups from Cummings and four free throws from Austin gave Pitt a 39-36 lead going into halftime.
The starting guard play picked up at the start of the second half for the panthers as Lowe and Leggett combined for the first seven points, including a strong take by Lowe as he scored and would finish the three-point play at the free-throw line to make it 48-40 Pitt.
With Guillermo Diaz Graham struggling for Pitt, including four turnovers, the Panthers decided to throw out a smaller lineup and it worked as Cummings continued to pour in the ball with another pair of triples that pushed him over the 20-point mark.
The Panthers would roll on a 23-point run as Papa Kante also factored in with two layups and another trey from Cummings would lift the Panthers to a comfortable 73-44 lead.
Kimble led the Colonels with 16 points, while Crawford finished with 13 as Eastern Kentucky shot 32.9 percent from the floor.
Pitt closes out its non-conference slate in 10 days when it takes on Sam Houston on Sat, Dec. 21 at 1 p.m.
