On Monday night, Pitt men’s basketball cruised past Radford in its regular season opener. The Panthers posted a dominant start to the season and defeated Radford 96-56.
Senior guard Ishmael Leggett and FSU transfer junior forward Cameron Corhen began the scoring for the Panthers. A pair of layups from Corhen puts the Panthers up early in the first half.
Radford also began its game strong. Junior guard Brandon Maclin and redshirt sophomore forward Ibu Yamazaki each knocked down a 3-pointer. Maclin ended the first half with 4 points and 4 rebounds. The game was tied at eight apiece at the first media timeout.
Sophomore guard Jaland Lowe found his rhythm on both ends of the court on Tuesday night. A steal from Lowe, layup from Leggett and a fastbreak from first-year guard Brandin Cummings put Pitt up 17-10 with 11:31 remaining in the first.
A contested 3-pointer for Lowe resulted in Radford’s sixth foul with 9:21 still remaining. Lowe made all three, and Corhen followed up on the next play with a wide-open dunk. The Zoo erupted as the Panthers went up 24-17.
Leggett pushed the pace for the Panthers as he took it to the basket for a sleek layup. Defensively, Leggett cleaned up under the basket and found himself with 7 defensive rebounds in the first.
Junior forward Guillermo Diaz Graham caught a lob pass from Lowe as the seven-footer put down an alley-oop dunk. After a scrappy steal from Leggett, Pitt went up 33-24 with 3:09 in the first. Head coach Jeff Capel and his team finally found a bout of momentum following a rocky offensive spell.
“The first 15 minutes of the game, I thought we were anxious,” Capel said. “Over the last five minutes of the first half, we really settled in, and more importantly, we started passing, and it opened us up offensively.”
Off an air ball from Cummings, Leggett came flying out of nowhere and slammed down a ferocious dunk for the Panthers. Leggett followed his shot with another defensive rebound at the other end. Cummings redeemed himself and put one down from beyond the arc. Lowe finished off the half with a buzzer-beater three, and the Panthers went up 45-27 heading into the locker room.
Graduate student guard Damian Dunn started the scoring run for the Panthers in the second period, hitting his first three of the night. A second chance 3-point jumper from Diaz Graham followed by a steal and fastbreak layup from Lowe put Pitt up by 22.
Leggett found another steal and scoring run. With a strong defensive performance in the early minutes of the second half, the Panthers went for a 16-4 joy ride. The defense proved to be a difference-maker for Pitt.
“To have [the] defense going this early in the season that’s huge, it’s a tone setter,” Lowe said. “We want to carry it on for the rest of the season.”
After a pair of layups from Corhen and a three from Leggett, the Panthers went up 68-37 with 13:27 remaining.
As Leggett brought down his tenth rebound of the game, he claimed his first double-double of the season. Lowe hit a jumper from beyond the arc, extending the Pitts lead 76-47. Radford continued to knock down shots and force fouls, but it wasn’t enough to stop the Panthers.
The Panthers pushed the pace and the Highlanders couldn’t keep up. Cummings led a breakaway layup after a steal and forced a foul to create a 3-point play. Pitt grew its lead as the second half wound down. It led 87-54 with 3:24 to go.
A group of four first-year players took the court, clocking in their first minutes as Panthers. First-year Papa Amadou Kante posted his first collegiate points after sitting last season out.
Leggett led the team in rebounds, posting 2 offensive and 10 defensive rebounds. Lowe had an impressive 21 points, six assists and zero turnovers
Capel praised his start guards for their stellar performance following the team’s first outing of the season.
“[Leggett and Lowe] have the ability to make plays with scoring and with passing,” Capel said.
From a jittery start to a shutout finish, the Panthers concluded the first game of the season with a final score of 96-56. They return to the Petersen Events Center on Friday for a 7 p.m. tipoff against Murray State.