Pitt men’s basketball (15-10, ACC 6-8) matched up with struggling Miami (6-19, ACC 2-12) without 30% of its season scoring with graduate student guard Damian Dunn and sophomore guard Jaland Lowe out with injury. But Pitt still made it happen against Miami, winning 74-65.
“[Jaland] Lowe is an essential piece of our offense, but I kind of told the guys before the game like whatever it takes is what we gotta do,” senior guard Ishmael Leggett said. “We got two guys down, so do it for yourself, and most importantly, do it for your brothers.”
Leggett made sure to do it for his teammates, as he had an outstanding for the Panthers and virtually led the Panthers to victory. Leggett led the Panthers in points, assists and steals, notching 21, five and four, respectively. The Rhode Island transfer was also active on the glass against Miami collecting 10 rebounds to earn himself a double-double.
“I thought [Leggett] was incredible on both sides of the floor,” head coach Jeff Capel said. “To have a double-double, but to put the ball in his hands and step in and make plays and play with poise and all of those things.”
Junior forward Cameron Corhen provided some much-needed offense to Pitt as well, scoring 17 points for the Panthers and grabbing eight rebounds.
Pitt and Miami looked out of sorts to start the game, as the teams went a combined 4-15 from the field, each making a three-pointer and two-pointer, tying the game up at five apiece.
The Hurricanes’ offense started to look better after the first timeout, making three shots from beyond the arc. Leggett kept the Panthers close by getting hot from three-point range, scoring four points and assisting junior forward Cameron Corhen.
The game started to look rough for Pitt as Miami got out to a 21-13 lead, including its fifth three-pointer. But Pitt’s 7-0 run in 1:17 seconds brought it back into the game.
Senior guard Matthew Cleveland scored six of Miami’s last nine points it scored in the first half. But that was the last of the dominance for Cleveland.
Redshirt senior forward Zack Austin was on the bench when Cleveland scored those six points. But when Austin reentered the game, Cleveland struggled and only scored two points for the remainder of the game.
“I don’t think Zack’s stat sheet reflect anywhere close to how well he played, and that’s hard because he had a double-double,” Capel said. “Cleveland, the last five games, was averaging 26 points a game, and he had eight, and he was 4-16 [from the field].”
Despite Cleveland’s short spirt of dominance, Leggett, Corhen and first-year guard Amsal Delalic carried the offensive burden for Pitt, scoring its last 12 points of the half and taking its first lead since it led 2-0.
Pitt took its largest lead of the game out of the halftime break with Austin draining a three-pointer, giving Pitt a 35-30 advantage. But after Austin’s three-pointer, the teams went back and forth with Pitt leading 41-37 with 15:01 left in regulation.
Miami cut the Pitt advantage to two points, trailing 43-41. But Pitt kept on pushing ahead leading 46-41, and had the assistance of Miami going on a 3:05 scoring drought.
Pitt stretched its lead out to 53-43, the largest lead of the game, due to first-year guard Brandin Cummings scoring his seventh point of the second half. Corhen and Leggett also chipped in on offense, going a combined 4-4 from the free throw line.
Pitt earning a victory looked certain after it got out to this 10-point lead, maintaining at least a six-point lead over Miami for the last seven minutes of action.
The game felt tight for a moment when Miami cut Pitt’s lead to six points with just under three minutes remaining. Pitt made its fan’s worries even stronger when it missed the front end of a one-and-one on two consecutive opportunities.
But on Cummings’ second trip to the free throw line for a one-and-one, he made both of his free throws and took away all of Miami’s hope of stealing a victory from Pitt.
The Panthers are still certainly on the outside looking in for March Madness. Hope is small, but there still is a chance for the Panthers to make the Big Dance if a lot of things go their way. Senior leader Leggett certainly isn’t deterred by the struggles Pitt is going through.
“Adversity is what we need,” Leggett said. “Everybody goes through it. Some don’t make it through. But I know me and the guys, like we’re coming in every day working, and we got a positive mindset that, you know, it hasn’t been going our way, but we can make it go our way with certain things we do within these 40 minutes on game day.”
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