Coming into the season, Pitt’s backcourt had question marks following their return to the NCAA tournament last season.
First-year guard Carlton “Bub” Carrington, in his first career game, answered those questions and placed himself in Pitt history. Carrington recorded 18 points, 12 rebounds and 12 assists — marking the fifth triple-double in school history and the first since 1998.
Carrington led the Panthers (1-0, 0-0 ACC) in all three major statistics as they thoroughly handled NC A&T (0-1, 0-0 CAA) 100-52 in their season opener.
Head coach Jeff Capel was happy with the outcome, as well as the triple-double for Carrington.
“I was really impressed with how excited our guys were that [Carrington] was able to get the triple-double,” Capel said. “I’m really proud of our guys, it’s a great opener.”
Junior center Federiko Federiko recorded a double-double of his own with 13 points and 10 rebounds and senior forward Blake Hinson nearly recorded a double-double with 13 points and eight rebounds.
The Panthers didn’t make the Oakland Zoo wait long to launch their shredded newspaper, as Hinson nailed a three-pointer just 11 seconds into the game. After a quick stop, Carrington found Hinson for a layup.
The Panthers didn’t stop their hot start there, as Federiko joined in with a layup of his own. Another Hinson layup extended the Panthers lead to 9-0 and caused an Aggies timeout.
The Aggies rebounded from there and went on a quick 6-2 run, but that was halted when an alley-oop from Hinson to sophomore forward Guillermo Diaz Graham lit up the crowd and sparked a 7-0 Panthers run.
Guillermo Diaz Graham’s efforts extended to the defensive end, where he tormented the Aggies in the first half. The sophomore forward blocked two shots, grabbed two rebounds and added a steal in four minutes.
Guillermo Diaz Graham’s minutes were cut due to foul trouble. But Federiko made up for his absence on both ends of the court. The Finland native scored 10 points and added five rebounds to his stat sheet. Like Guillermo Diaz Graham, Federiko blocked two Aggies field goal attempts in the first half. Federiko finished with four blocks overall.
Carrington stuffed the stat sheet in the first half. After assisting the Panthers’ first four baskets of the game, Carrington added seven points and seven rebounds to his stat sheet.
The Panthers failed to extend their lead throughout the middle of the first half. The Panthers led 25-11 with 6:53 remaining in the period. From here, the Panthers dominated the Aggies. The Panthers went on a 25-4 extended run to end the period, giving them a 50-15 lead heading into the locker room.
Sophomore forward Jorge Diaz Graham — twin brother of Guillermo — struggled all summer batting with injuries. But the sophomore was a huge factor in the Panthers’ extended run. Jorge Diaz Graham scored 10 points of the Panthers’ 25 points during their extended run, including three three-point shots.
Jorge Diaz Graham attributes his scoring display to his teammates’ ability to set him up.
“I was just finishing plays,” Jorge Diaz Graham said. “The guys were hitting me, I was just finishing all of their work.”
The Panthers outsized the Aggies and had the athleticism advantage vs the Aggies. Austin, Federiko and senior forward Will Jeffress all gave the Aggies fits throughout the first half. Overall, the Panthers outrebounded the Aggies 58-28.
For Jeffress, it was his first game action since the 2021-22 season as he missed last season with a foot injury. Jeffress finished with seven points and four rebounds.
The momentum of the first half carried over into the second half for the Panthers. A Carrington three-pointer gave the Panthers a 57-18 lead and caused an Aggie timeout.
The Panthers and Aggies went back and forth following this. The Aggies got hot from three-point land to start the second half draining four three-pointers. But the Panthers had an answer to every Aggie basket, maintaining their lead 67-28.
After the Panthers raised their lead to 73-28, Carrington continued his offensive onslaught, coming off the bench and quickly adding two points and an assist to his stat sheet.
Assist No. 9 came on a quick pass to Federiko. The Petersen Events Center nearly exploded when Carrington found Hinson for a wide-open three-pointer. But Hinson missed.
Just a minute later, though, Carrington found Guillermo Diaz Graham for a three-pointer, cementing his name in Pitt history in his first career game.
The Panthers finished out the contest rolling off of the momentum from Carrington. A free throw from Jeffress marked point No. 100, lighting up the Petersen Events Center once more, and giving the Panthers the 100-52 win.
For Carrington, making history hasn’t hit him yet. But he knows that this is just step one in the Panthers’ quest for a championship in 2023.
“It’ll probably hit me tonight before I go to sleep probably,” Carrington said. “The win is the most important thing, the stuff that comes after is great, but at the end of the day we’re trying to be champions.”
The Panthers host out-of-conference opponent Binghamton on Friday at 7 p.m.
