Pitt will take on Duke on Tuesday night at Cameron Indoor Stadium for the second-straight year.
The Panthers, led by point guard Jaland Lowe, are off to a 12-2 start to the year, and share that same record with the Blue Devils. Duke and Pitt are two of the three undefeated (in conference play) teams left in the ACC, along with Clemson. Ahead of the game on Tuesday night, Duke head coach Jon Scheyer met with the media on the ACC Coaches Conference Call. During the call, I asked Scheyer about Lowe, asking “What makes Lowe an effective player?”
“Lowe is a really good player,” Scheyer said. “He can score in a variety of ways, he can shoot from three, he can attack the basket, he can create, he plays pretty much the whole game. So, you have to — he’s not a guy that shies away after missing a couple. He’s going to continue to shoot, no matter what’s happening. He has great next-play mentality in that regard. So, you have to continually stay in a stance against him and you have to make sure you make it as hard as possible. He’s going to score. You just don’t want him to get any easy ones whenever possible.”
Lowe scored 17 points and added six assists in Pitt’s win over Duke at Cameron last year. Now in his sophomore year, Lowe has increased his averages to 17 points and six assists per game in a breakout season.
Lowe is shooting 38.5% from the field this year and 28% from three-point range. An 89% free-throw shooter, Lowe is leading the team in that category for all players with more than 10 attempts on the year. His 6.1 assists per game are tied for second in the ACC with Elliot Cadeau of North Carolina.
Pitt will take on Duke on Tuesday night at 7 p.m. est. on ESPN.
