How Are Pitt’s Lowe, Leggett Adjusting to Defensive Attention?

Jaland Lowe and Ishmael Leggett are the unquestioned leaders of the 2024-25 Pitt basketball team.

The two starting guards for the Panthers have led Pitt to a 13-6 start to the season, and are both averaging career-high scoring numbers.

However, the Panthers have lost four of their last five games, even though Lowe has averaged 18.2 points per game in those five games and Leggett 13.4.

“One thing that teams have done pretty consistently, over the last, really, since conference play, but really over the last five or six conference games, is that there is a lot of emphasis and a lot of attention to Jaland and to Ish,” Jeff Capel said on Monday. “Teams are in gaps early, really, I think we, our coaching staff, they don’t think those guys are going to pass. So, they’re in gaps early, they’re trying to show them a big crowd. We have to pass more. We have to get off the basketball. I think we’ve done a better job of that the last three games, but that’s what they’re seeing.”

Lowe is shooting a nearly identical percentage from the field as last year. This year, he is shooting 38.5% from the field on 14+ attempts per game, after shooting 38.8% last year on 8+ attempts. However, while his volume has nearly doubled, Lowe’s three-point shooting percentage has decreased by more than eight percent (35.2% last year down to 26.8% this year).

Leggett, on the other hand, is shooting the ball better than he ever has in his five-year college career. On three pointers, he is shooting 35.5%, the second-best number of his career. On two pointers, he is shooting 55%, more than six percentage points higher than any other season in his five-year career.

Ishmael Leggett is shooting 55% on two-point field goals this year — 6.4% better than any other season in his five-year career.

He takes some tough twos — that’s for sure. But this year, he’s been making a lot of them. pic.twitter.com/qZ8qESJw0T

— George Michalowski (@MichalowskiCBB) January 27, 2025

One knock on Lowe’s performance this year would be his turnover numbers. Prior to the game against Syracuse, Lowe had turned the ball over multiple times in every game since the season opener against Radford, and had turned it over 3+ times in 13 of 15 games. However, against the Orange, Lowe only had one turnover. As a team, Pitt only had three all game, and zero in the second half.

“He’s gotten better,” Capel said about Lowe. “He’s a smart kid, he’s a student of the game, he wants to be good, he works, he studies, all of those things. And he’s been able to make adjustments. The thing that we try to emphasize with him is, you’re going to have the ball a lot. There is a responsibility that comes along with that. When you’re a guard, point guard, and you have the ball a lot, there is a responsibility that you have, and it’s just, that’s the way it is, that’s the way basketball will always be. If you’re a really good player, there’s a responsibility that you have to play a certain way, look a certain way, to compete a certain way, to lead a certain way if you want to be a high-level player. He wants to do it, so he’s learning how to do it with different things that people are throwing at him.”

Take a look at Lowe’s points and assists from the Syracuse game below.

Jaland Lowe against Syracuse

22 PTS
6 AST
1 TO pic.twitter.com/2pcXl6vqWi

— George Michalowski (@MichalowskiCBB) January 27, 2025

“Syracuse, in preparation for them, they were mainly drop coverage on the ball screen, and they were kind of forcing teams to play two on two,” Capel said. “Because off the ball, they would stay with their guys. They did not start in drop coverage against us. They were a little bit more aggressive on the ball screen. Then, when we were able to get to the paint, they came off the guy. So, I thought our guys adjusted and made passes to guys who were open for three or second drives and things like that. Again, we see things on tape, we have to be able to adjust, because our league has really good coaches and they make adjustments during the game. You may come out and say ‘We’re going to play this way for the first four minutes. Second four minutes, we’re going to change this coverage up and do something different.’ So, we have to be able to adjust in game as well.”

Pitt’s next opportunity comes against North Carolina on Tuesday at 9 p.m. at the Petersen Events Center. That game will be televised on ESPN.