Pitt men’s basketball dominated in Durham by Flagg and No. 4 Blue Devils

Pitt men’s basketball suffered a primetime 76-47 loss to No. 4 Duke on the road. The loss is only the third for the Panthers, who earned the most votes of unranked teams in the weekly AP Top 25 poll. 

Junior forward Cameron Corhen led the Panthers with 11 points while blocking three shots, grabbing two steals and seven rebounds. Pitt’s two leading scorers, sophomore guard Jaland Lowe and senior guard Ishmael Leggett, were held to eight and four points respectively on poor efficiency.

It’s no surprise the Panthers struggled to score. The Blue Devils are the tallest average team in Division I basketball. Good shots were hard to come by.

The Panthers started the game down five before junior forward Guillermo Diaz Graham knocked in a corner three-pointer off a kickout pass from senior guard Ishmael Leggett to stop the Blue Devils’ run. After first-year guard Cooper Flagg made a three-pointer from the top of the key to extend Duke’s lead to 11-5, the Blue Devils missed seven straight field goals, including four tries from deep. Flagg picked up two fouls early and spent much of the first half on the bench.

Flagg finished the game, however, with 19 points and grabbed 10 rebounds.

Duke senior forward Mason Gillis came off the bench and scored five consecutive points to force Pitt head coach Jeff Capel to call a timeout, trailing 18-14. It was clear that the Panthers would have a tough time scoring at the rim. In the first half, the Panthers finished with only eight points in the paint.

Much of that difficulty came from first-year Blue Devil center Khaman Maluach, who stands at 7-foot-2. Maluach altered several shots, grabbed five rebounds and added six points in the first half. Pitt junior forward Cameron Corhen matched that defensive intensity.

The Panthers trailed close behind at 20-14 until Duke stepped on the gas. 6-foot-7 first-year guard Kon Knueppel is known as a great three-point shooter. Although his efficiency wasn’t great so far this season, leaving him wide open was not a good idea for Pitt. 

After missing his first two three-point tries, Knueppel made three deep shots in a row in less than two minutes. Pitt stopped the bleeding with a Leggett lay-up amongst a contested three-pointer from junior forward Jorge Diaz Graham.

The Panthers looked like they were ready to get to the second half. Trailing 29-21, Pitt got several stops including a block and two steals. But the Panthers fell victim to turnovers and missed open shots on three straight fast breaks. Two misses on consecutive one-and-one opportunities also didn’t help. 

Pitt recorded seven steals to Duke’s zero in the first half. With a second on the clock, Corhen was fouled going for a put-back lay-up. But the big man split the pair, and the Panthers entered the half trailing 34-24.

The break didn’t seem to make offense any easier for the Panthers. Lowe missed a step-back jumper, Leggett missed consecutive shots and Austin’s three-pointer rattled out to start the second half. Lucky for Pitt, Corhen put back Austin’s miss, but the game was slipping away, and the Panthers couldn’t buy a bucket.

Duke’s student section, the Cameron Crazies, is always loud. But when Flagg picked up his third foul early in the second half, the stadium erupted in dismay. Flagg wasn’t happy either, as he stole the ball from Lowe, sprinted the length of the floor and dunked on Guillermo Diaz Graham. 

After Austin suffered an apparent shoulder injury early in the second half, graduate student guard Damian Dunn, who returned to the lineup after missing the last seven games, made a mid-range and a three-point jumper. 

Another dunk from Flagg and a couple of jumpers from Knueppel highlighted a Duke run that put the Panthers’ comeback effort almost out of reach. A floater from Duke senior guard Sion James, who finished with 10 points and seven rebounds, gave Duke a 17-point lead. 

Lowe pulled up for a three-pointer off the dribble to answer, cutting Pitt’s deficit to 55-41, giving Capel a chance to call a timeout and regroup.

Out of the timeout, the Panthers got a stop and Corhen made a put-back lay-up off a miss from first-year guard Brandin Cummings, but James responded, making an open three-pointer. Every time Pitt took a step up, Duke pushed them back two. Cummings however started to make his mark.

Cummings stole the ball from Duke five-star first-year guard Isaiah Evans and avoided Flagg’s block attempt in transition off of a smooth windmill layup. On the next possession, Lowe stole the ball from Flagg and Cummings made another contested lay-up in transition, forcing Duke to call a timeout leading up 11.

That was the last bit of hope generated though by the Panthers. Duke junior guard Tyrese Proctor scored the final nine points for the Blue Devils and Dunn was ejected for committing a flagrant two foul on Proctor’s final three-pointer.

The Panthers fell 76-47 much in part to the Blue Devils’ defense which was too much for Pitt to handle. But for a team with big dreams of an appearance in the NCAA Tournament, a tough challenge on the road against one of the best teams in the country is a great way to toughen up for the rest of ACC play.

Pitt returns to play this Saturday at noon in the Petersen Events Center where they take on Louisville who is off to a 4-1 start in ACC play.