Pitt stifles Gardner-Webb in defensive showcase

Pitt men’s basketball moves to 3-0 on the season after an 83-64 defensive win against Gardner-Webb. Pitt held the Runnin’ Bulldogs to 39.7% shooting from the field and forced 17 turnovers.

“It was great for us to get some work against the zone. It’s the first time we’ve seen it in live-action this year. I thought it slowed us down. The last four minutes of the first half, we got some wide-open looks and missed them and I thought that they stayed with it because we didn’t score,” head coach Jeff Capel said.

“I was really pleased with our defense for about the first 15 minutes of the first half,” Capel said. “We have to be able to sustain it. In the first half, [Gardner-Webb] had eight points in the paint. In the second half, they had 24.”

Senior guard Ishmael Leggett did it all for Pitt, leading the Panthers in scoring with 21 points on 7-9 shooting including three three-pointers, four assists and six rebounds. Junior forward Guillermo Diaz Graham finished just short of a double-double, scoring 10 points and grabbing nine rebounds. Redshirt senior forward Zach Austin finished with 10 points, four blocks and two steals in his 24 minutes off the bench.

The Panthers operated comfortably and at their pace – a development from their previous three outings. Leggett sent the Zoo’s newspapers flying when he made a quick crossover and finished with a floater. A two-handed jam from junior forward Cameron Corhen, Diaz Graham three-pointer and two floaters from graduate student guard Damian Dunn highlighted a 17-5 opening Pitt run.

Gardner-Webb redshirt sophomore guard Shahar Lazar and sophomore guard Darryl Simmons II each made a three-pointer to steady the ship. But sophomore guard Jaland Lowe, who had an off-shooting night, answered by getting to the rim for a floater and a pair of free throws.

Austin, who recorded five blocks against Murray State last game, shows constantly that he’s a special athlete. Austin missed a three-pointer in the corner and then sprinted back on defense before swatting away Gardner-Webb’s hopes at scoring in transition.

Austin is making an early case to get the Panthers third consecutive ACC Sixth-Man of the Year award. Austin started in 31 games last year, but this season he has come off the bench – a role the redshirt senior doesn’t mind.

“I think it’s fun,” Austin said on coming off the bench. “Honestly, I like it. You get to see the game, come in, [Capel] told me before every game that when I get in, stuffs got to change. So it’s fun, I like it.

A few possessions later, Austin hit a corner three – a positive development considering he finds himself open in the corner often. That corner killed Gardner-Webb in the first half as the Panthers hit four three-pointers from the same spot.

Even poor possessions for Pitt put points on the board. After using the whole shot clock and missing a last-second three-pointer, Dunn crashed the boards and scored with an easy put-back lay-up. Pitt led 32-12 with 7:02 left in the first half.

First-year guard Amsal Delalić, who broke his shooting hand in late Sept., recorded his first minutes as a Panther. Delalić, a lethal three-point shooter, got the ball in the corner on his first offensive possession. But instead of shooting, Delalić made a nice pass to Corhen under the basket who slammed it home.

“I thought [Delalić] made some really good passes,” Capel said. “When he first got in, he made a post pass to Cam, and Cam was able to score. In the second half, I thought he made some passes that were good passes. We’re just not used to him, and the more experience he gets, we’ll get used to that.” 

The Panthers hit a cold stretch, but their defense was so stout the whole first half it barely mattered. Pitt went the final 4:58 of the first half without any points but held Gardner-Webb to only five points in that stretch. Despite the Panthers shooting 3-14 from deep in the first half, they led 38-23.

Leggett continued dominating out of the break. The senior guard forced a turnover and then finished a lay-up in transition to end Pitt’s scoring drought. Then, Leggett found Diaz Graham for his second three-pointer and tossed an alley-oop to Corhen a few possessions later. Corhen finished a lay-up in transition through contact on the next play, but that ended Pitt’s hot second-half start.

Pitt would go another 3:35 without any points, but this time, allowed Gardner-Webb to score six, its biggest run of the game. Right on queue, Austin hit another corner three-pointer to end the drought. Pitt led 51-35 with 14:09 remaining.

Gardner-Webb tried to respond with a three-pointer of its own but missed back-to-back attempts. Off the Runnin’ Bulldogs’ second miss, Lowe sliced through the defense and converted with a floater. 

Coming out of the second media timeout, Pitt suffered a cold spell, going 2:50 without a point and 0-5 in shots as Gardner-Webb slowly started to inch back into this game. That drought was finally ended by Lowe, who made his signature cut inside for a layup shot to put the score 57-44. 

A dunk quickly after by Guillermo Diaz Graham got the Pitt bench up on their feet, giving the Panthers the lead 59-46 heading into the third media timeout. 

That break allowed Pitt to regain its edge. Coming out of the break Pitt went on a 14-2 run, erasing Gardner-Webb’s progress. That surge in offense was led by Leggett, who hit two of his three total three-pointers during that run to help extend his team’s lead to 73-49, putting the game out of reach for Gardner-Webb. 

With a comfortable lead in the closing minutes of the second half, Delalić got some extended minutes. There, he hit his first three-pointer as a Panther, going 1-4 on the night, and added his second assist. 

“I don’t just give out playing time, guys earn playing time,” Capel said.“And there’s no such thing as BS minutes. If you think that, then you’re BS, you’re full of it.”

Delalić was on the court for 8:43, and five Pitt players recorded under ten minutes in the game. 

Brandon Cummings hit a deep three for Pitt’s final make of the game, with the final score at 83-64. Similar to this season’s football team, the Panthers are undefeated heading into the Backyard Brawl on Nov. 15. 

“It’s going to be a dog fight,” Leggett said of their game against West Virginia. “I feel like we’ve prepared for the dog fight these past three games. We kind of felt each other out. Now, it’s time to put all the pieces together again, go out there and do what we do best.”

Last season, Pitt won its first four games. Against West Virginia, Pitt looks to match that streak.