Takeaways: Pitt Throws Away Great Start to Season

PITTSBURGH — The Pitt Panthers ended their season this past weekend, which saw a great start, but a horrific end, bringing the future of the program into question.

Pitt Excecutes During Non-Conference, Starts Season Brilliantly

The Panthers just missed out on the NCAA Tournament in 2024, thanks to their non-conference schedule hurting their résumé come selection time.

Pitt head coach Jeff Capel made sure to correct the problem heading into this season and it worked well. The team beat their six mid-major opponents by an average of 31.8 points, while also scheduling tougher, Power Four opponents too.

They got a big win over rival West Virginia, 86-62 in the Backyard Brawl at home, defeated LSU in the Greenbrier Tip-Off in Sulphur Springs, W.Va., plus a comeback, overtime road win vs. Ohio State, with redshirt senior forward Zack Austin hitting a buzzer-beater 3-pointer.

Pitt's only losses came vs. Wisconsin in the Greenrbrier Tip-Off, after graduate student Damian Dunn suffered an injury, and against Mississippi State on the road, where nothing went right.

They even did well in the ACC, with comeback wins vs. Virginia Tech on the road and both Cal and Stanford at home.

Pitt held a No. 5 place in the initial NET Rankings in early December and was No. 10 by the start of the 2025, putting them in prime position for a good NCAA Tournament spot.

While the season ended poorly, this was one area that the coaching staff and team got right, which made their terrible late run even more disappointing.

Pitt Falters in ACC Play, Consistently Struggles Early in Games and in Close Contests

The Panthers, despite a 12-2 overall and 3-0 ACC start to their season, struggled mightily for most of conference play.

They suffered three four-game losing streaks, only bouyed by five wins, as they finished 8-12 in conference play and 17-15 overall at the end of the regular season.

Pitt consistently fell behind in ACC play, making it hard for them to comeback in games and get wins.

They trailed at halftime in 15 conference games, going 5-10 in those contests and also trailed by as much as eight points in the first half in 16 conference games.

Pitt also failed to win out in closer games as well, finishing 1-6 in games decided by four points or less. This includes home defeats to Louisville, 82-78, and Clemson, 78-75 in overtime, two losses to Notre Dame in the regular season/ACC Tournament, and to both Wake Forest, 76-74, and North Carolina, 67-66, on the road.

Poor starts and poor finishes are a perfect combination for a poor season and the Panthers achieved both of those feats often throughout.

Jaland Lowe, Ishmael Leggett Not Quite the Best ACC Guard Duo

Guards in sophomore Jaland Lowe and Ishmael Leggett came into this season with high hopes and expectations of themselves.

Leggett won ACC Sixth Man of the Year after transferring from Rhode Island and earned Preseason All-ACC Second Team honors. Lowe started the final 19 games of the season and had a strong finish after dealing with injury issues early on in his freshman campaign.

Both players said they were the best ACC guard duo, but their play on the court didn't quite matchup to it.

Lowe still won ACC Third Team honors and Leggett improved his numbers as a full-time starter this season, but they didn't get Pitt back in the NCAA Tournament.

Both players excelled the season prior with All-ACC First Team honoree in forward Blake Hinson and All-ACC Freshman team honoree Bub Carrington, who ended up as an NBA Lottery pick with the Washington Wizards.

Carrington and Hinson both created their own shot, could pull up from anywhere and make shots and kept defenses constantly working, accounting for their offensive prowess.

Lowe and Leggett aren't quite the same players. They don't have that mid-range jump shot that Carrington had and aren't anywhere near as dangerous from 3-point range as Hinson was.

They both do well driving to the rim, but the abscence of a strong mid-long range shooting made it easy for defenses to account for them.

Lowe especially struggled from 3-point range this season, 26.6%, and his 37.6% shooting from the field didn't help him much either. He shot 35.2% from 3-point range the season prior.

All of the blame shouldn't go to Lowe and Leggett, as they shouldered much of the offensive responsibility, with a lack of scoring options on the Panthers dooming them in the end.

Outside of the backcourt duo, no one else really stepped up for the Panthers, which deviated themselves from better and more well-rounded ACC teams.

Lack of Shooters, Scorers Hurts Pitt Later On

Pitt has had success under head coach Jeff Capel when they've had players that can either get their own baskets or make shots in good opportunities.

When the Panthers ended the seven-year NCAA Tournament drought, they had great shooters in Greg Elliott and Nike Sibande, plus dominant guards in First Team All-ACC honoree Jamarius Burton and Nelly Cummings, who drove to the rim and also pulled up when necessary.

Hinson played a large role on that team and an even bigger role in the season following, while Carrington improved throughout his freshman campaign.

Pitt didn't have a reliable 3-point shooter throughout the season, nor really any scorers other than Leggett and Lowe.

Junior forward Cameron Corhen was the only other scorer in double-digits at 11.0 points per game, but he was too inconsistent.

Austin was next up at 9.2 points per game, but he didn't really have a mid-range shot, and either relied on a 3-point shot or an emphatic dunk.

Capel's offense relies on pick-and-rolls and isolation plays, requiring players to make their own shots and not on extensive play-calling that some other teams might rely on.

With this roster makeup, it may have benefitted from some more complex offensive game-planning, even if it isn't always how he normally runs an offense.

Cam Corhen Doesn't Solve Big Man Problems for Capel

Corhen came to Pitt after two seasons with Florida State and looked forward to a bigger role with his new team.

He replaced Federiko Federiko, who struggled the previous season on offense, and transferred to Texas Tech.

Corhen, while more of a power forward than a center, would provide the Panthers with an offensive option and bring intensity on defense.

He was a better offensive option than Federiko, but also had games where he had no impact whatsoever. He scored in single-digits in eight of 20 ACC games, 40% of his conference games with less than 10 points.

Corhen also struggled with rebounding, grabbing just 5.2 per game, around the same amount for Federiko the season prior, at 5.1 per contest.

One of the reasons that Corhen struggled as a rebounder, outside of poor boxing out, was that he struggled grabbing onto a basketball.

What would seem like a basic concept for any Division I player, let alone, one at the Power Four level, Corhen consistently had difficulty holding onto the basketball, whether on defense or on offense.

His lack of true production on a consistent basis made the Panthers a team that once again lacked a true post presence on both sides of the court, a consistent problem for Capel.

Damian Dunn's Injury Hurts Pitt's Season

Dunn came to Pitt for his sixth and final season of college basketball, spending his first four seasons with Temple and his previous with Houston.

He brought great defensive intensity and fight that Capel wanted, but was also another scoring option for the Panthers

Dunn was one of the best players for Pitt this season prior to his first injury, ranking third with 13.0 points per game and averaging 25.2 minutes and 2.5 rebounds per game, while starting the first six contests. He also shot 50.0% from the field, 52.6% from 3-point range and 75.0% from the foul line.

He would miss six weeks after undergoing surgery on his right thumb and came back in early January, but he didn't match his previous production.

Dunn started five of his last nine games for Pitt prior to suffering a fractured elbow vs. UNC on Feb. 8. He averaged 9.0 points, 3.1 rebounds, 1.9 assists and 1.0 steals per game, while shooting 37.7% from the field, 34.4% from 3-point range and 85.7% from the foul line after coming back from injury.

Capel spoke following the final regular season game that he didn't realize how Dunn's abscence would affect the team.

While some saw this as an excuse, Dunn's absence did force Leggett and Lowe to take on more scoring responsibility and it also thinned depth in the back court, forcing the duo to play longer.

Dunn may not have solved all of Pitt's problems, but his injuries made a tough season even more difficult.

Pitt's Lack of Rotation Asks Too Much of Starters

The Panthers played the same players in a game for most of the time, rarely resorting to bench players, especially in close contests.

Lowe ranked second in the ACC with 35.6 minutes played per game, while Leggett ranked fourth in the conference at 35.4 minutes per contest. Austin also played 32.4 minutes per game himself.

Freshman guards Brandin "Beebah" Cummings and Amsal Delalić were the only two non-starters who averaged more than 10 minutes per game, at 16.2 and 13.2 minutes, respectively. Those both dropped to 15.0 and 11.0 minutes per game, respectively, during conference play.

Both players showed their talents, with Cummings' fearless mentality and scoring ability, and Delalić's passing prowess and solid shooting at times, but they either didn't have enough opportunities or made mistakes when they got them that saw them sit on the bench.

Forwards in junior Jorge Diaz Graham and redshirt freshman Papa Amadou Kante played sparingly, at 7.2 and 6.8 minutes per game. Both players had a game or two where they did well, but were mostly missing throughout the season, coming off of season-ending injuries the previous campaign.

Two more forwards in redshirt freshman Marlon Barnes Jr. and Amdy Ndiaye hardly played at all, averaging less than three minutes.

Ndiaye, who appeared in just eight games and a total of 22 minutes, would've been better off redshirting instead of playing this season.

Pitt needs a stronger rotation for next season and one that Capel will use that will allow his starters more rest time during games, which will make them more efficient players.

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