Pitt men’s basketball out-run Murray State late in close Friday night win

Pitt men’s basketball outran Murray State on Friday night in a nail-biting 83-68 win that ended with a statement 12-3 run. After a season-opening 40-point win against Radford, the Panthers needed to conserve momentum and that’s exactly what they did against a Racers team that won by 76 points in their season-opener — the fourth-highest scoring margin in the country.

“This is a heck of a win for us,” head coach Jeff Capel said. “I think that’s a really good team. I think they’re going to win a lot of games. I have a lot of respect for their program, for Steve [Prohm], go back with him ways, and it’s a very proud program. They forced us to face some adversity, which is really good for us to have to, you know, go through that.”

Graduate student guard Damian Dunn finished with 19 points on 6-11 shooting, sophomore guard Jaland Lowe recorded 20 points on 6-15 shooting and senior guard Ishmael Leggett scored 19 points. Junior forward Cameron Corhen finished with a double-double, grabbing 10 rebounds and scoring 13 points before fouling out. Redshirt senior forward Zach Austin finished with eight rebounds and five blocks.

After winning the tip, Lowe got a screen from Corhen and drove baseline with both defenders on his hip. That left Corhen wide open for a short jumper, and newspaper clippings went flying.

Turnovers were a huge problem for Murray State early. A Dunn steal, Leggett block, Corhen steal and a bad pass on consecutive possessions led to easy transition buckets for Pitt.

Then, Dunn started to show how good and experienced a player he is. Getting to the paint, Dunn showed his defender several pump fakes before finally making the jumper. A few possessions later, Dunn did the same set of moves in the same spot but got fouled this time.

Running hot, Dunn called his own number and hit a three-pointer, showing he can score on all three levels. Finishing off the barrage, Dunn found first-year guard Brandin Cummings for a three-pointer and Pitt led 25-13 with 11:20 left in the first half.

“[I was] just being assertive, being aggressive, you know, just trusting my teammates to just let me be free,” Dunn said. “Just be aggressive early on and I think just rolling with early momentum. After seeing a few go down, you know, just you get comfortable a little bit and the rim gets a little bigger.” 

Murray State answered with a 15-4 run in the next five minutes after Lowe picked up two early fouls and went to the bench. Pitt got several good looks from deep during the run but couldn’t find the bottom of the net, even on free throw attempts.

“The last 10-11 minutes of the first half really was what set the tone for us to get stops late in the second half,” Dunn said. “Just taking our matchups personally and doing our best to get stops. It’s about putting the hard hat on and guarding at that point.”

“We just have to talk more,” Corhen said. “The only time we messed up with switches, both people weren’t talking. We just got confused. But they weren’t running anything that was necessarily crazy. We just didn’t talk to each other.”

The free throw line wasn’t so free for the Panthers as Pitt shot 21-33 from the charity stripe on the day. Tied 32-32, Leggett jumped a passing lane and made the transition lay-up. On the next possession, Leggett pulled up in the mid-range to retake the lead.

But Murray State senior guard AJ Ferguson went on a 5-0 run to give the Racers their first lead of the game 39-36 with 1:48 to go in the first half.

Lowe kept the ball in his hands, getting the cup for a tear-drop lay-up to cut the deficit to one. After a scramble for the ball and a Corhen rebound, Lowe held the ball for the last shot. Dribbling slowly deep on the left wing, Lowe waited for the clock to run down, stepped back and drained a deep clock-beating three-pointer to give Pitt a 41-39 lead at the half.

Out of the locker room, Murray State senior guard Jacobi Wood, who finished with 10 points, got the Racers back in the game. Racer senior guard Kylen Milton, who finished with 11 points, played good defense on Leggett and decided to talk trash instead of playing help defense. Lowe took advantage of the open lane and let Milton hear it, igniting the Panthers and the home crowd.

The pressure in the Pete was building and Austin knows how to blow the roof off. Austin blocked his third shot of the game after Lowe took a blow to his face. 

“Rim protection. That was big-time for us,” Corhen said of Austin’s impact. “[Austin] was the X-Factor. We told him everything at the rim is going to be his and he brought it down.”

At the 12-minute media timeout, Pitt led 57-55, and Corhen just picked up his fourth foul. That meant the other forwards had to step up in a big way.

Right on queue, junior forward Guillermo Diaz Graham got a swing pass from Cummings and drained his first three-pointer of the night. After Austin missed a tough lay-up, the Racers raced in transition and Wood had a clear path to the cup.

Then, out of nowhere, Lowe swatted Wood’s attempt, Leggett threw the ball to Cummings down the court and Cummings threw a touch pass to Diaz Graham who ignited the crowd with a two-handed jam. Pitt led 62-57 with 10:00 remaining.

“I thought one of the sparks of the game was Beebah [Cummings],” Capel said. “He drove it middle and hit Guillermo for a three, which he made, and the very next play in transition he made a heck of a pass falling down to Guillermo for a dunk. That got the crowd back in it and gave us a little bit of a cushion.”

Murray State senior guard Terence Harcum, who finished with 15 points on 14 shots, drained back-to-back three-pointers to retake the lead. Thankfully for the Panthers, Harcum picked up his fourth foul and had to sub-out.

Diaz Graham picked up a questionable fourth foul which put Corhen pack in the game with his four fouls as well. Right away, Corhen got the ball in the post and hit a hook shot that he’s shown to love.

Pitt was in the double bonus with 7:00 still left in the game. Murray State junior forward Alden Applewhite, who finished with 11 points, became the third Racer with four fouls when he fouled Leggett taking a jumper. But Leggett could only make one of the free throws, a continuous issue for the Panthers all night. Dunn also missed one of two free throws on the next possession.

Just like that, the Panthers ran away with it. Leggett pulled up from deep with Milton and converted. After a Harcum turnover, Dunn made a hesitation move and hit a clutch three-point shot.

Dunn drove to the cup on a fastbreak but missed it. The ball hung in the air just long enough for Corhen to slam the putback dunk home which forced Murray State to call a timeout with an emphatic crowd. Pitt led 79-65 with 3:40 to go.

With the game in hand, Austin swatted one more shot for good measure — his fourth of the game.

“Zach has the ability to impact the game in different ways besides scoring,” Capel said. “Everyone will look and say, well, he didn’t score. He was 0-2, or whatever. You know, he has a big impact on this game. Same thing with Beebah, like I told him after the game, and not one thing came from him taking a shot.”

The Panthers let the Racers hang around for far too long than Capel and the home crowd would’ve liked. But considering the talent that Murray State rosters, a grinded-out win is a good thing for a team that won their first contest by 40.

Pitt faces Gardner-Webb at home at 7 p.m. on Monday, Nov. 11 at the Petersen Event Center. The game is watchable on ACCX.