PITTSBURGH — On Wednesday night, Pitt took down Eastern Kentucky 96-56 in a non-conference battle at the Petersen Events Center.
Check out the postgame press conferences from the Panthers’ head coach Jeff Capel and his players Beebah Cummings and Zack Austin, as well as Eastern Kentucky’s A.W. Hamilton, below.
Eastern Kentucky scored the first three points of the game, throwing the first punch at the Panthers. George Kimble led EKU early, scoring 11 points in the frame on 4-for-7 shooting. Freshman Beebah Cummings was the lone bright spot for Pitt early, scoring Pitt’s first 12 points of the game and reaching a career-high 16 points by halftime. Ishmael Leggett also came out of the gates strong, scoring nine first-half points on 4-for-6 shooting and grabbing two rebounds. The Colonels continued to battle throughout the half, out-rebounding Pitt 16-14 in the first half and forcing seven Panther turnovers. At the break, Pitt led by just three points, 39-36.
Pitt star guard Jaland Lowe earned two fouls in the first two minutes of the game, and played just eight minutes in the half. He scored zero points in the first period, but dished out three assists as the Panthers battled back.
In the second half, EKU kept the game within striking distance for the first 3-4 minutes of action. However, after Kimble hit another three pointer to trim the deficit down to four points, Pitt went on an 11-4 run that included an alley-oop to Austin and another Cummings three. That run extended Pitt’s lead up to 11 points, 55-44.
The Panthers will now have nine days in between games. Pitt is off until Dec. 21, when it will host Sam Houston State at 1 p.m.
