Pitt Looks to Remain Unbeaten vs. Eastern Michigan

The Pitt Panthers will face the Eastern Michigan Eagles as they look to remain undefeated in regular-season play. The Panthers are fresh off a 78-60 victory over Longwood, while Eastern Michigan is coming off a 71-49 win against Georgia State.

Forward Johan Nziemi was the leading scorer for Longwood and challenged the Panthers frontcourt at times. Eastern Michigan forward Mohammad Habhab stood out against Georgia St scoring 15 points, 16 rebounds, 4 assists, and 2 blocks in 32 minutes. Habhab transferred from Central Michigan following last season.

EMU — Dearborn's Mohammad Habhab looks to drive during the Dreamz Two Reality Basketball All-American game on Saturday, May 4, 2024, at Detroit Catholic Central. | Brandon Folsom/Hometown Life / USA TODAY NETWORK

The Eagles second leading scorer of the game was Carlos Hart who had 14 points and 8 rebounds. Before joining the Eagles this season Hart played at Benedict College, New Orleans, South Georgia St, and Valdosta St. Addison Patterson was the only other member of the starting 5 to score double digits against Georgia St, he scored 10 points with 6 rebounds and has also has had a well traveled career. Patterson's career has taken him from Oregon to Nevada, then Tallahassee St and Northwestern State before landing with EMU.

Against Georgia State, the Eastern Michigan bench provided a spark with 22 bench points, senior guard Mak Maciel led the way with 12 points. Pitt scored 19 bench points in their opener against Youngstown St but only managed to rack up 12 bench points against Longwood, Pitt’s depth will need to be more of a factor against the Eagles. The Panther bench has shot 10-32 from the field so far this season. In the first exhibition game of the season Pitt scored 34 bench points against Providence.

rollin’ deep i feel like adele pic.twitter.com/MbVP8v2uka
— Pitt Basketball (@Pitt_MBB) October 21, 2025

Nojus Indrusaitis is Pitts top bench scorer, averaging 9.5 points through the first two games of the season. Indrusaitis shot 2-9 against Longwood from the field and struggled from the line going 1–5 on his free throws. Barry Dunning averaged 15.1 points for South Alabama through 32 games last year, he shot 0-3 from the field against Youngstown St and 0-4 against Longwood. He started the first exhibition game of the year against Providence before Omari Witherspoon stepped into the starting rotation. Pitt will need solid performances out of Indrusaitis and Dunning off the bench against the Eagles.

The last time Pitt played Eastern Michigan it resulted in a 93-90 double-overtime win for the Panthers during the 2016 season. The head coaching match up was Kevin Stallings for Pitt versus Mike Brown with EMU. Now it will be Jeff Chapel and Stan Heath who is heading into his third year with the Eagles. EMUs leading scorer was Ray Lee with 27 points and Pitt’s was Jamel Artis who also scored 27.

Feb 25, 2017; Pittsburgh, PA, USA; Pittsburgh Panthers forward Jamel Artis (1) dribbles the ball against the North Carolina Tar Heels during the first half at the Petersen Events Center. Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images | Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images

Eastern Michigan has yet to play a conference game but was placed ninth out of 13 schools in the Mid-Atlantic Conference preseason pool. Pitt has also yet to play a conference game and has been placed 14th in the ACC Preseason pool.

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