Pitt Pulls Off Stunning Upset Against Cal

The Pitt Panthers will end their California road trip with a win, beating Cal 72-56. This is Pitt's fourth ACC win of the season and Cal's fourth home loss of the season.

Pitt was able to be in control for most of this game. Damarco Minor started it off with a side-step 3-pointer, which was a good sign as he didn't shoot well in the previous loss to Stanford.

Pitt was able to put up many points off the fast break. The team's half-court offense actually looked good as well; there were a lot of smart cuts and ball rotation that resulted in wide-open threes.

The 3-point shooting was just at 33.3%, which is actually worse than what they shot in the loss against Stanford. What helped the Panthers was that Cal shot just 22.7% from three. Pitt also shot 81.3% on 16 free throw attempts, something they have struggled with earlier this season.

This was the second time Pitt blew out an ACC opponent on the road, the first being in their first ACC win at Georgia Tech.

Defensive Clamps

Putting up 72 points is nice, but Pitt's defense really stepped up. 56 points is the lowest the team has held an ACC opponent to this season. Only two Cal players had double-digit points, which were Lee Dort with ten and Dai Dai Ames with 11.

Pitt put up 11 steals, three blocks, and won the rebounding battle by five.

Pitt guard Omari Witherspoon — Feb 28, 2026; Berkeley, California, USA; Pittsburgh Panthers guard Omari Witherspoon (8) and California Golden Bears forward John Camden (2) vie for a loose ball during the first half at Haas Pavilion. Mandatory Credit: D. Ross Cameron-Imagn Images | D. Ross Cameron-Imagn Images

Top Performances

Cam Corhen put up 16 points on 70% field goal shooting and had four steals. He's tied with Nojus Indrusaitis for the leading scorer. Indrusaitis knocked down four 3-pointers to help Pitt out on that end.

Barry Dunning Jr had an all-around great performance. The senior had 15 points with 12 rebounds and two blocks, the only player in the game to get double-digit rebounds. While he only hit one 3-pointer, Dunning found other ways to contribute. His defense was also great, only having one personal foul despite going for multiple blocks.

Roman Siulepa didn't shoot the ball well, but he did stuff the stat sheet with four rebounds, three steals and one block. He also had the best dunk of the night, showing off his insane athleticism and footwork.

THROW IT DOWN @roman_siulepa 🔨

📺 @accnetwork pic.twitter.com/mfFTE79kmh
— Pitt Basketball (@Pitt_MBB) February 28, 2026

This was another game where head coach Jeff Capel basically played a six-man rotation, giving Macari Moore just three minutes as he stuck with the main six rotation players.

What's Next

This win puts Pitt in a better spot to make the ACC tournament, as they just have to avoid being a bottom-three team in the conference. It also shows that Pitt can beat teams closer to the middle of the pack, rather than just teams at the bottom.

As the season wraps up with Pitt having just two games remaining, the California trip did show some improvements all around. Hopefully for the Panthers, these improvements come at the right time for the ACC tournament.

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