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Pitt Hits Low Point of Season With Dreadful Loss to Virginia

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PITTSBURGH — After a promising start to Pitt basketball’s 2024-25 campaign, the Panthers have stumbled since early January, albeit to mostly tournament-quality teams.

With that, Pitt had yet to succumb to a Quad 3 team in the NET Rankings or lower, but that changed on Monday when the Panthers hit a low point in the season with a 73-57 loss to the Virginia Cavaliers at the Petersen Events Center.

While 6-1 sophomore guard Dai Dai Ames engineered a career-best 27 points as he lit up the Panthers in the first half for a now 11-12 and 4-8 in conference Virginia team, it was more so the uninspired and inexcusable play across the floor that proved deadly for the Panthers.

Pitt has now lost six of its last eight games as the Panthers drop to 5-6 in Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) play and 14-8 overall.

Ishmael Leggett paced Pitt with 17 points, while Jorge Diaz Graham had the second-most points for the Panthers with nine. Pitt shot 41.9 percent from the floor and hit on 6-of-20 (30%) from beyond the arc.

Blake Buchanan added a double-double for Virginia with 10 points and 11 rebounds as the Cavaliers out-rebounded the Panthers 33-21.

It was a dreadful first half for the Panthers from every area on the floor that resulted in just 19 points — a season low. A stagnant offense, poor shooting, miscommunication and faulty defensive play plagued the Panthers.

It hit disastrous levels when the Panthers went 7 minutes, 11 seconds without a point that led to boos directed at the Pitt bench during the under-eight media timeout.

Ames led the Cavalier charge in the first half as he dialed up a pair of corner threes and diced up Pitt’s defense on the way to the rim. He totaled 16 points on 7-of-9 shooting in the first 20 minutes of action.

As Ames torched Pitt, the Panthers’ painful play worsened, turning the ball over six times and getting dominated on the glass, 18-11.

Virginia’s 23-3 run put the Cavaliers in comfortable position with a triple from Ishan Sharma and six points apiece from Blake Buchanan and Anthony Robinson.

In need of answers, head coach Jeff Capel infused some of its young talent into the game that has been shut out of recent game action in the likes of Brandin Cummings and Papa Kante, along with Diaz Graham.

After missing its first six attempts from beyond the arc, Diaz Graham knocked down a three at the 2:27 mark of the half, which was resulted in the lone highlight of the first half for Pitt.

Virginia took a 34-19 lead into the locker room behind 56.5 percent (13-0f-23) from the field Leggett led the Panthers with seven points as Pitt shot 30 percent (6-of-20) from the floor.

It was much of the same to start the second half for Virginia as Ames hit a triple that was followed by Isaac McKneely’s — Virginia’s leading scorer on the year with 13.3 points per game — first points of the night beyond the arc.

Any time Pitt attempted to trim the deficit to single digits, Virginia had an answer. After Zack Austin buried a three and Guillermo Diaz Graham sank a pair of free throws, Andrew Rohde responded with a his third triple coming at the expiration of the shot clock to extend the Cavs’ lead back to 50-33.

A 7-0 run from the Cavaliers extended its lead to 60-39 was followed by a Diaz Graham three and two free throws from Dunn to bring the game within 16. However, McKneely rattled in another three with 6:35 to go.

With the Oakland Zoo and Pitt faithful nearly emptied, Ames threw down a pair of dunks to conclude his career night.

Pitt returns to play on Saturday in Chapel Hill, N.C. to take on North Carolina just two weeks removed from the Panthers’ 73-65 home win over the Tar Heels in late January. Tip is set for 4 p.m.

Sandy Schall, Coldwell Banker
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