Pitt Outclassed by Older Backcourt Against Miami
PITTSBURGH -- The Pitt Panthers' guards have been stars over the past week as they've stabilized their season with wins over Duke and Georgia Tech. Scoring, rebounding, distributing - Ishmael Leggett, Jaland Lowe and Bub Carrington were doing it all for Pitt
But when met by an older group in the backcourt as the Panthers traveled south to face the Miami Hurricanes, the youth issues that have plagued them for the better part of conference play - and appeared on their way out after key wins over the past week - returned. Inconsistency resulted in another loss that indicates just how much growing up Pitt still has to do.
This is a veteran group that manned the backcourt for Miami, even with second-leading scorer Mattew Cleveland sidelined by an injury and it showed. Their guards found open look after open look from 3-point range, especially in the first half. They answered every incursion from Pitt on what was a double-digit lead for most of the game with a big shot.
The Hurricanes were balanced as well, with Wooga Poplar scoring 17 points, Nigel Pack adding 17 of his own and freshman Keyontae George stepping in to the starting lineup for Cleveland and adding 11 points. Even Bensley Joeseph added three rebounds, five assists, a block, a steal and tremendous all-around defense.
Meanwhile, the Panthers got roughly 15 minutes of strong play from their three top guards. Carrington's shooting woes returned as he finished with four points on 11 shots, a fact that overshadows his eight rebounds, four assists and zero turnovers. Ishmael Leggett rallied late, scoring eight of his 14 points in the second half, but he looked lost on both ends at times, driving wildly with the ball and struggling to stick with his man defensively.
Lowe was the best of the bunch, scoring 17 points, grabbing seven rebounds and dealing four assists to just one tunrover, but he contributed to the early hole, missing four of his first five shots and making a critical error with the game on the line.
Lowe and Pitt really showed their youth in the final possession of the game. Trailing by two, the Panthers had the ball in good position. Lowe took the inbounds pass and used a ball screen to get hulking center Norchad Omier into a mismatch. But instead of using his speed to race past a 250-pound forward, Lowe opted to hunt for a foul call on a 3-pointer. He didn't get it and Pitt lost for the sixth time in nine ACC games.
Yes, Lowe likely got fouled and yes, putting a 76% free throw shooter at the line for three shots when his team is trailing by two likely sends the game to overtime, if it doesn't end in an outright win for the Panthers. But Lowe, in looking for a potential knockout punch, missed a chance to get the Panthers, who had all the momentum while riding a 27-8 run, into overtime.
Three of Miami's guards are juniors or older, with multiple years of experience in Power 5 college basketball. Pitt has two freshmen and one junior in his first year at the highest level of the sport. There are levels to experience and it made the difference in a tight game
It appeared for a moment, after the Panthers prevailed in the vaunted atmosphere of Cameron Indoor Stadium and fought through a slow start to avoid a letdown against Georgia Tech in their next contest, that they had moved past some of the youthful inconsistency that had held them back early. But if anything, this loss proved how much of an advantage experience - something in short supply in Pitt's backcourt - can create.
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