Ishmael Leggett Carries Short-Handed Pitt to Win Over Miami

PITTSBURGH — The Pitt Panthers (15-10, 6-8 ACC) managed to snap their four-game losing skid on Saturday when they played host to a struggling Miami (6-19 , 2-12 ACC) squad at the Petersen Events Center. Despite leading by just two at the half, the Panthers outscored the Hurricanes 42-35 in the second half to secure the 74-65 win.

The Panthers entered the game without two of their key starters in Jaland Lowe and Damian Dunn but managed to outpace the worst defense in the ACC mainly because of the play of Ishmael Leggett who scored a game-high 21 points.

The Panthers also got solid contributions from two freshman guards that have not played much as of late in Brandin Cummings and Amsal Delalić who played a combined 61 minutes in Pitt’s win over the Hurricanes. Cummings started in-place of the injured Lowe and scored 11 points while Delalić came off of the bench and added 14 points.

Cam Cohen started the game off with a spinning floater for the Panthers but the Hurricanes quickly answered with a bucket and then a three from Divine Ugochukwu. The Panthers jumped back ahead 7-5 after a five-point run from Ishmael Leggett but this would be the Panthers last lead until the very end of the half.

Following Leggett’s run, the Hurricanes scored threes on their next three possessions and their next six field goals overall as they leaped ahead of the Panthers and claimed a 21-13 lead midway through the half.

The Panthers finally stopped the bleeding as they answered with a 7-0 run that was started on an and-one by Leggett. After thee Panthers cut the deficit to just one, Matthew Cleveland scored six-straight points for the Hurricanes but a three by Leggett kept Pitt close.

As the first half was ticking down, the Panthers got back to within one again on a crafty finish from Leggett before Delalić nailed a three as the buzzer sounded to give the Panthers a 32-30 halftime lead.

The Panthers opened up the second half in the same fashion that they closed out the first on as Zack Austin hit a three. A few possessions later, it appeared as Brandin Cummings matched with his own three from the corner but it was reversed to a long two after a review.

Following the bucket from Cummings, the two teams traded points over the next few possessions before a handful of free throws from Cam Corhen gave the Panthers a 48-41 lead shortly after the under-12 media stoppage.

After a pair of free throws from the Hurricanes’ A.J. Staton-McCray, the Panthers pushed their lead to 10 points after a three from Cummings and a pair of free throws from Leggett.

The Panthers had the opportunity to build upon their biggest lead of the night but a couple of sloppy offensive possessions allowed the Hurricanes to crawl back to within nine with less than four minutes to go.

A pair of free throws from Lynn Kid cut the Hurricanes’ deficit to just six following the final media timeout of the half but another three from Delalić pushed the score to 62-53 in favor of the Panthers.

Following Delalić’s three, the Panthers pushed their lead back to double-digits when Austin canned both of his free throw attempts with under two minutes to go.

The Panthers eventually ran the clock out on the Hurricanes who could not pull the deficit back to anything less than eight points in the closing minutes.

Pitt is right back at it on Tuesday night when it hosts Syracuse at the Petersen Events Center at 7 p.m.. The Panthers defeated the Orange at the Dome on Jan. 25. Syracuse big-man Eddie Lampkin racked up 23 rebounds in the 77-73 loss to the Panthers.