On Tuesday night, Pitt men’s basketball will suit up for another ACC matchup as it returns home to face Georgia Tech. Coming off of a loss to Notre Dame, Pitt’s hopes for an NCAA tournament appearance seem shattered.
With the ACC tournament just two weeks away, Pitt still has an opportunity to pick up some wins and build momentum for a strong performance in Charlotte, North Carolina.
Georgia Tech’s standings look pretty adjacent to Pitt, with an identical 7-9 conference record this season. Although the numbers look seemingly similar, the Yellow Jackets recently had some big wins, including a seven-point win over No. 25 Louisville and a triple-overtime win against No. 18 Clemson.
Yellow Jacket senior guard Lance Terry leads the team in scoring with 14.6 points per game. Terry had 21 points in Georgia Tech’s win over Louisville and was a key component in rallying the team from a 13-point deficit.
Although Terry is the team’s leading scorer, point distribution is ultimately very even across the board for the Yellow Jackets, and a majority of the team’s starters average similar numbers.
Sophomore guard Nathan George is also known to make plays for the Yellow Jackets on offense, scoring a career-high 28 points in Georgia Tech’s exciting win over Clemson. George is joined by sophomore forward Baye Ndongo, averaging 12.8 points per game. Terry, George and Ndongo are the biggest offensive threats to Pitt, but the Panthers can’t let them occupy all their focus.
In more recent matchups against Virginia and Notre Dame, the Panthers have struggled to keep opposing players who aren’t frequent scorers for their team at bay. Whether this is a result of tunnel vision or of poor player matchups on Pitt’s end, it’s something to keep an eye on in this upcoming game. Counting out some of the lower-scoring players early on can prove detrimental to Pitt.
Pitt’s current offense looks a little different than it did mid-season. After suffering an elbow fracture against North Carolina, graduate student guard Damian Dunn’s season was cut short. Without the help of Dunn, Pitt will look to other players to offset this loss.
Senior guard Ishmael Leggett had 21 points on Saturday, which is not out of character for a leader of this Pitt offense. Leggett was joined by senior forward Cam Corhen, who was close behind with 20 points against the Fighting Irish.
A lot of Pitt’s offensive performance depends on the opposing team’s ability to contain sophomore guard Jaland Lowe. A threat when he gets hot, opponents tend to put their best defender on Lowe for the entirety of playing time. When this occurs, it’s important for other players to step up and generate those points. Corhen helped out in the game against Notre Dame on Saturday, and Pitt can look to him again.
Catch this upcoming matchup at the Petersen Events Center this Tuesday, with tip-off set for 7 p.m. Streaming is available on the ACC network.