Pitt basketball struggles against Mississippi State

Following a buzzer beater against Ohio State by senior forward Zack Austin, the Panthers entered the month of December as one of the best teams in college basketball. After the departure of Bub Carrington and Blake Hinson to the NBA and its affiliated leagues, Pitt was expected to take a step back but showed otherwise early on.

Pitt got off to quite a slow start against Mississippi State, with the Bulldogs scoring the first six points off two offensive rebounds before senior guard Ishmael Leggett’s contested layup put points on the board for the Panthers.

Mississippi State dominated the pace of play early, forcing Pitt to take tough looks for its first six points between Leggett and sophomore guard Jaland Lowe. Mississippi State’s physicality also caused problems for the Panthers, who were outrebounded by six early on. The Bulldogs’ ability to grab offensive rebounds gave them nine second-chance points by the second media timeout as the Panthers trailed 16-8.

A three-point shot from Austin brought some momentum back to Pitt, but its inability to rebound hurt it again as Mississippi State continued to find the bottom of the basket. The team’s inability to score or rebound early saw them go on a one for 12 streak in the middle of the first half, while Mississippi State went on a 9-0 run.

Pitt called a timeout with under eight minutes to go, but the game was fully away from them at that point. Mississippi State scored five points in succession, making it a 21-point lead for the Bulldog with 6:30 to go in the first half. 

By the time the under-four-minute media timeout occurred in the first half, the Mississippi State offense had put their team up to an 18-point lead. The Bulldogs’ lead seemed insurmountable heading into halftime. Head coach Jeff Capel would need to make a plethora of adjustments in the break in order to give his team a fighting chance.

By the time the buzzer sounded at the end of the first half, the Panthers trailed by 22 while getting absolutely dominated on the glass. Mississippi State’s 27 rebounds to Pitt’s 14 were a microcosm of the overall disastrous play that plagued Pitt’s first half. 

Pitt’s second half didn’t start much better, as Leggett stepped out of bounds on first possession, and Pitt proceeded to miss its first three shots of the half while Mississippi State made two of its first three.
Pitt’s first points of the second half came 2:30 in when Lowe went 1 for 2 from the line, but Mississippi State answered quickly with a three-pointer. Junior forward Guillermo Diaz Graham turned the ball over, leading to a dunk by Mississippi State’s junior forward KeShawn Murphy that would put the game out of reach for the Panthers with 15:42 to go.

Pitt made four shots in a row, but their inability to defend let Mississippi State make six in a row at the same time. At the under-12 media timeout, Pitt stood with a 25-point deficit while getting outrebounded by 12. Pitt’s brand of looser play worked against LSU and Ohio State, but their inability to play physically put the game well out of reach with much time remaining. 

The only positive that Pitt could pull from their performance against Mississippi State was Jaland Lowe’s offensive performance, as he notched a team-high 19 points.

A suboptimal performance by junior forward Cameron Corhen and the entire Pitt frontcourt made this game impossible to come back from. Not only were they unable to rebound at almost half the rate of Mississippi State, but they went a combined rate of less than 40% from the field when it came to the offensive side of the ball. 

Leggett’s performance was also forgettable, as his near 20% shooting percentage made it hard for Pitt to achieve anything offensively on the front or backcourt.

Pitt has a lot to glean from its 90-57 loss to Mississippi State and very little of it is positive. Next, the Panthers will take on Virginia Tech on Dec. 7 at 2 p.m. in Blacksburg, Virginia.