Pitt Aims For Fifth Straight Win Over Youngstown State

After exhibition wins against Providence and Pitt-Johnstown, the Pitt Panthers are set to kick off regular season play against the Youngstown State Penguins.

Coach Jeff Capel is 5-2 in season openers at Pitt. His first career win as a Panther came in the 2018-19 season opener against Youngstown State.

The Penguins were one game away from the NCAA March Madness Tournament last season and are coming off a trip to the Horizon League Championship with a record of 21-3. The Horizon League picked them second in the pre-season pool between Milwaukee and Robert Morris.

In our 2025-26 @UnderArmour #HLMBB Preseason Poll, @MKE_MBB secured the top spot followed by @OaklandMBB, @YSUMensHoops and @RMUMBasketball!

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— Horizon League (@HorizonLeague) October 8, 2025

This year, in the Penguins’ lone exhibition game they beat Akron 84-78 after going on a 7-0 run in the final minute and battled back from trailing 13 at halftime. Akron won the Mid-Atlantic Conference last year before losing to Arizona as a 13 seed in the first round of March Madness.

Leading the way was 6’6” guard Tae Blackshear. The JUCO product out of McClennan Community College put up 19 points off of the bench for the Penguins. The second leading scorer was Bryson Dawkins with 16 points, he transferred to Youngstown from Houston Christian College after becoming a Southland All-Conference selection last year. Both will be making regular season debuts with the Penguins.

Pitt Faces Tough Season Opener vs. Youngstown State

The Panthers will face the tallest task they’ve seen so far in starting center Imanuel Zorgvol who stands at 7-foot. Zorgvol scored 13 points and had 3 rebounds against Akron. Providence’s 7-foot center Peteris Pennis did not play in the exhibition game against Pitt.

Pitt’s tallest starter will be 6’10” Cameron Corhen and behind him will be the 6’6” freshmen Roman Siuelepa from Australia. The Panthers starting 5 average height in the exhibition game with Pitt-Johnstown was 6’4.6” well Youngstown States against Akron was 6’4.2”.

Corhen is a returning starter expected to play a big role for the Panthers frontcourt this season. He averaged 11 points, 5.2 rebounds last year, and is coming off a 21 point performance against Pitt-Johnstown.

6’3” guard Beebah Cummings has emerged as a starter after appearing in 41 games last year. He scored 30 points off the bench against Eastern Kentucky last season and has started both exhibition games.

Four newcomers have started across Pitt’s exhibition games in Damarco Minor, Omari Witherspoon, Roman Sipulela, and Barry Dunning Jr. Dunning Jr. started against Providence and Witherspoon started in his place versus Pitt-Johnstown. All four will make their regular-season debuts for the Panthers.

Polo — Oct 19, 2025; Pittsburgh, PA, USA; Pittsburgh Panthers guard Damarco Minor (7) controls the ball against Providence Friars guard Corey Floyd Jr. (14) during the second half at the Petersen Events Center. Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images | Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images

This will be the fifth meeting between the programs, Pitt currently stands at 4-0 after wins in 2003, 2009, 2013, and 2018. The closest game came in 2003 which was 57-42 while the largest victory margin was in 2013, 91-73. Pitt has never won by 20 plus points. Coach Ethan Faulkner is entering his second season as the Head Coach in Youngstown, OH and was an assistant with the Penguins during the 2018 matchup that the Panthers won 69-53.

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