Pitt Loses to Wake Forest

The Pitt Panthers lost to Wake Forest on the road.

Feb 1, 2025; Winston-Salem, North Carolina, USA; Pittsburgh Panthers guard Damian Dunn (1) drives to the basket defended by Wake Forest Demon Deacons guard Cameron Hildreth (6) during the second half at Lawrence Joel Veterans Memorial Coliseum. Mandatory Credit: Jim Dedmon-Imagn Images / Jim Dedmon-Imagn Images

PITTSBURGH — Pitt men’s basketball couldn’t add Quad One victory to its resume as it fell to Wake Forest 76-74. 

Senior guard Cameron Hildreth led the Demon Deacons to victory as he scored 24 of the Demon Deacons 76 points on the night. The Demon Deacons star, senior guard Hunter Sallis, scored only two points in the first half but took over in the second half as he added 11 points in the second half.

Graduate student guard Damian Dunn was Pitt’s star against Wake Forest as he tallied 24 points for Pitt. Pitt also went 20-20 from the free throw line, but neither of that mattered as Pitt lost its sixth Quad One game.

The Panthers made two of their first three shots of the game knotting it up at five apiece. But the Panthers then went cold missing six straight field goal attempts. The Panthers didn’t get out of their cold streak until senior guard Ishmael Leggett hit a jumper in the paint. 

Pitt kept it close although, it didn’t allow Wake Forest to earn a single offensive rebound – something Pitt has struggled with all season long — and forced four turnovers from Wake Forest. And Pitt trailed only by three 14-11 with 11:26 remaining. 

The Demon Deacons then went on a quick 6-0 run to quickly stretch its lead to nine. Turnovers were the catalyst to the Demon Deacon run as they scored four of their six points off of Panthers’ turnovers. 

The 6-0 run forced head coach Jeff Capel to call a timeout 9:46 remaining in the first half. After the timeout, Pitt went on a 9-2 run, including a 5-0 run by Dunn, which cut the Wake Forest lead to two, 22-20.

Foul trouble started to hurt the Panthers around 15 minutes into the first half as they had four players that had committed two fouls — three starters and one reserve. It didn’t hurt the Panthers too much as Sallis was also in foul trouble with two fouls. 

Pitt’s foul trouble let Wake Forest take a five-point lead over Pitt, 29-24. But Pitt responded and took the lead back by the end of the first half. Pitt went on a 12-5 run to end the first half with Dunn scoring seven points for PItt and Capel having the Panthers switch to a zone defense for the last minutes of the first half.

The Panthers' guards scored 29 of the Panthers 36 first-half points. The Demon Deacons scoring distribution was far different than the Panthers’ first-half scoring distribution with every player who checked in in the first-half scoring for the Demon Deacons.

Dunn gave Pitt its largest lead of the game early on in the second half with a three-pointer making it a 39-34 Pitt lead. But Wake Forest immediately responded with an 11-2 run to take a four-point lead early in the second half.

The Demon Deacons kept on adding to their lead, eventually taking a 53-45 lead after they earned their first offensive rebound of the game. 

But Pitt responded, going on a 7-0 run to cut the Wake Forest lead to one. Junior forward Guillermo Diaz Graham led Pitt in the run making a three-pointer and adding a dunk in transition.

The Panthers couldn’t add to the momentum generated by Diaz Graham as the Demon Deacons extended their lead to three, leading 59-56 with 7:30 left in regulation.

Neither Pitt nor Wake Forest could take over for the next few minutes or even for the entire game as a matter of fact as it was tied at 63-63 apiece with 3:11 left in regulation. 

Sallis decided to own the next few minutes as he made a two-pointer with three hands in his face and then a three-pointer. Leggett kept it close although as he made two free throws to keep it a one-possession game. 

Wake Forest again extended it to a five-point game as they found Hildreth in transition for a wide-open layup. But junior forward Cameron Corhen responded for Pitt making a floater with 45 seconds left in regulation.

But on the ensuing defensive possession, Corhen fouled sophomore guard Ty-Laur Johnson with 2.7 seconds left in the shot clock and Johnson then went to the free-throw line and went two for two. 

Lowe got fouled within five seconds of the Panthers' next possession and went two for two from the free throw line to make it a one-possession game again with the Demon Deacons leading 72-69. 

Pitt played the fouling game with Wake Forest at the end, but it didn’t work as Johnson went four of four from the free-throw line to close out the game for Wake Forest.

Make sure you bookmark Inside the Panthers for the latest news, exclusive interviews, recruiting coverage, and more!

• Preview: Pitt Enters Crucial Matchup With Wake Forest
• Pitt Stays Steady in NET Rankings, Bracketology
• Former Pitt DB Finds New Home
• Pitt Lands in ESPN's Top 100 CFB Games
• WATCH: Pitt's Jeff Capel, Cam Corhen Preview Wake Forest

Follow Inside the Panthers on Twitter: @InsidePitt