Pitt vs Sacred Heart Live Feed: Panthers Race Past Pioneers in Second Half

PITTSBURGH -- Once again, a buy game against a low major was a little tighter in the first half than was comfortable for the Pitt Panthers. But they turned on the jets in the second half, outscoring Sacred Heart 50-30 in the final period to come away with a blowout victory.

Game Information

Matchup: Sacred Heart at Pitt
Time: 3:30 P.M. ET
Where: Petersen Events Center
How to Watch: ACC Network
How to Listen: 93.7 The Fan

Live Game Chat

Come chat with our Inside the Panthers team. Stephen Thompson will share their thoughts and news, and any highlights from the game. Tweet at us at @InsidePitt to have your thoughts and reactions shared in the feed.

Stephen: Final: Pitt 91, Sacred Heart 66.

The Panthers made good on an opportunity to build some confidence. Nelly Cummings and Fede Federiko were the stars of the show this afternoon. Cummings posted a season-high 24 points on 8-17 shooting and added five assists and six rebounds for good measure. Federiko, making a start in the place of John Hugley, recorded a 17-point, 14-rebound double-double. He added three assists and three blocks while committing just one foul.

A slow first half gave way to an offensive avalanche in the second. Now the Panthers are 7-3 with one non-conference game against a strong North Florida team remaining before the real start of ACC play.

Stephen: Pitt leads 85-66 with 3:57 to play.

Nelly Cummings' last three games: 13.7 points, 5 assists to 1.7 turnovers, 3 rebounds per game; 43.8% from 3, 75% from 2.

Season-high 21 points, 7 rebounds, 5 assists, 2 turnovers, 4 steals, 7-15 from the field and 5-11 from 3 this afternoon. #Pitt
— stephen thompson (@stephenethom) December 10, 2022

Stephen: The Panthers are starting to run away with this one. They're on a 23-8 run and up 79-62 with under eight minutes to go. Federiko has scored five points, Diaz-Graham's scored just as many and Cummings knocked down a couple of triples to fuel the run that lasted almost six minutes.

Stephen: The Panthers lead 67-59 with 11:41 to go in regulation. Federiko is doing some good work down low for Pitt. He's up to 15 points and 13 rebounds on 6-9 shooting from the field with three assists and three blocks in 22 minutes.

The Panthers are starting to find their strokes from deep, making four of seven triples in the second half after starting 4-16.

Stephen: Pitt has made four of their last five and taken their largest lead of the game at 52-45 with 15:41 to go in the second half. Elliot continues to possess the hot hand, making five of six total attempts and three 3-pointers to go along with a rebound, an assist and a steal.

The poor 3-point shooting - 5-20 for the afternoon - by Pitt is a big reason why they aren't up more.

Stephen: Halftime: Pitt 41, Sacred Heart 36.

The Panthers outscored the Pioneers 9-3 over the final 2:33 of the half to take control into the locker room. That said, they have to be much better on the defensive end. They are dominating the glass but it hasn't led to much of an advantage on the scoreboard.

Hinson has eight points and eight rebounds, Cummings leads Pitt with 10 points, Federiko has eight points and six rebounds and Elliot's added nine points. Solomon has a game-high 14 points for Sacred Heart, who has gotten 10 points from their bench.

Stephen: Sacred Heart is out in front, 31-30 with four minutes until halftime. Pitt's been able to get into the paint on offense, but can't convert their opportunities. They're just 5-11 on layups and the Panthers' 6-2 edge in offensive rebounding hasn't led to an advantage in second-chance points, which are tied at two.

Stephen: Pitt and Sacred Heart are locked at a 25-25 tie with 7:29 to go until halftime. The Panthers have found some success running in transition but they have been one step slow with their halfcourt defense all afternoon. The Pioneers have scored 12 of their 25 points in the paint while shooting 3-10 from 3-point range.

Stephen: Sacred Heart is on an 11-2 run and will have a chance to take the lead with a free throw after the under-12 media timeout. Pitt is one for their last six from the field. The Panthers keep trying to muscle the ball inside and it's not been very effective.

Stephen: Pitt leads 12-3 at the first media timeout. Cummings leads all scorers with five points. Hinson's scored four and grabbed three rebounds. Elliot got three the old-fashioned way. The Panthers have five offensive rebounds compared to just one for the Pioneers.

Stephen: John Hugley checks in for Federiko with 16:16 left in the first half. Federiko had some trouble being strong with the ball.

Stephen: With John Hugley struggling, Fede Federiko will start at the five for Pitt this afternoon. Nike Sibande is also making his first start of the year in Burton's place. Familiar faces Nelly Cummings, Greg Elliot and Blake Hinson round out the starting lineup.

Sacred Heart will send Joey Reily, Solomon Rasheem, Aidan Carpenter, Bryce Johnson and Nico Galette to the floor first. Rasheem, Reily and Gallette are your players to watch for the Pioneers. All three of them averaged north of 10 points per game.

Stephen: Now’s the time to get right. The Panthers will hope to use KenPom’s No. 294 team as a get-right game after falling by one to Vanderbilt, but they’ll have to do it without a key piece.

Starting senior guard Jamarius Burton will miss this game with knee inflammation. it’s a recurring but not debilitating problem for Burton. They’ll want to keep him fresh for the Syracuse game.

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