Pitt Falls in Close Battle with Wake Forest

The Pitt Panthers fell late in a close matchup with Wake Forest.

Feb 1, 2025; Winston-Salem, North Carolina, USA; Pittsburgh Panthers guard Jaland Lowe (15) shoots over Wake Forest Demon Deacons guard Ty-Laur Johnson (8) during the first half at Lawrence Joel Veterans Memorial Coliseum. Mandatory Credit: Jim Dedmon-Imagn Images / Jim Dedmon-Imagn Images

PITTSBURGH — Pitt Panthers battled throughout their road matchup with Wake Forest, but fell just short, 76-74. 

Pitt drops to 14-7 overall and 5-5 in the ACC, with five defeats in their past seven games. It also makes it seven defeats and no wins for Pitt in Winston-Salem vs. Wake Forest (16-6 overall, 8-3 ACC).

Senior guard Cameron Hildreth led the Demon Deacons to victory, as he scored a team-high 24 points

Star, senior guard Hunter Sallis scored only two points in the first half but took over in the second half as he added 11 points.

Graduate student guard Damian Dunn was Pitt’s star against Wake Forest as he led with 24 points, shooting 8-for-13 from the field, 3-for-5 from 3-point range and 5-for-5 from the foul line.

The Panthers also went a perfect 20-for-20 from the free throw line, but neither of that mattered as they lost their sixth Quad One game.

The Panthers made two of their first three shots of the game knotting it up at five apiece, but then struggled, as they missed six straight field goal attempts.

Pitt kept it close although, it didn’t allow Wake Forest to earn a single offensive rebound – something Pitt has struggled with all season long — and forced four turnovers from Wake Forest. And Pitt trailed only by three 14-11 with 11:26 remaining. 

The Demon Deacons then went on a quick 6-0 run to quickly stretch its lead to nine. Turnovers served as the catalyst to the Demon Deacons' run, as they scored four of their six points off of Panthers’ turnovers. 

The 6-0 run forced Pitt head coach Jeff Capel to call a timeout with 9:46 remaining in the first half. Pitt then went on a 9-2 run out of a timeout, including a 5-0 run by Dunn, which cut the Wake Forest lead to two, 22-20.

Foul trouble started to hurt the Panthers around with five minutes remaining in the first half, as they had four players with two fouls — three starters and one reserve. It didn’t hurt the Panthers too much as Sallis was also in foul trouble with two fouls. 

Pitt’s foul trouble let Wake Forest take a five-point lead over Pitt, 29-24. But Pitt responded and took the lead back by the end of the first half. They went on a 12-5 run to close the period, with Dunn scoring seven points for and Capel having Pitt switch to a zone defense.

The Panthers' guards scored 29 of the Panthers 36 first-half points. The Demon Deacons scoring distribution was far different than the Panthers’ first-half scoring distribution, with every player who checked in in the first-half scoring for the Demon Deacons.

Dunn gave Pitt its largest lead of the game early on in the second half with a 3-pointer making it a 39-34 Pitt lead, but Wake Forest immediately responded with an 11-2 run to take a four-point lead.

The Demon Deacons kept on adding to their lead, eventually taking a 53-45 lead after they earned their first offensive rebound of the game. 

Pitt responded, going on a 7-0 run to cut the Wake Forest lead to one point. Junior forward Guillermo Diaz Graham led Pitt in the run making a 3-pointer and adding a dunk in transition.

The Panthers couldn’t add to the momentum generated by Diaz Graham as the Demon Deacons extended their lead to three points, leading 59-56 with 7:30 left in regulation.

Neither Pitt nor Wake Forest could take over for the next few minutes or even for the entire game as a matter of fact as it was tied at 63-63 apiece with 3:11 left in regulation. 

Sallis decided to own the next few minutes as he made a two-pointer with three hands in his face and then a three-pointer. Leggett kept it close, although, as he made two free throws to keep it a one-possession game. 

Wake Forest again extended it to a five-point game as they found Hildreth in transition for a wide-open layup. But junior forward Cameron Corhen responded for Pitt making a floater with 45 seconds left in regulation.

But on the ensuing defensive possession, Corhen fouled Demon Deacons sophomore guard Ty-Laur Johnson with 2.7 seconds left in the shot clock and Johnson then went to the free-throw line and went two for two. 

Sophomore guard Jaland Lowe got fouled within five seconds of the Panthers' next possession and went two for two from the free throw line to make it a one-possession game again with the Demon Deacons leading 72-69. 

Pitt played the fouling game with Wake Forest at the end, but it didn’t work as Johnson went four of four from the free-throw line to close out the game for Wake Forest.

The next matchup for Pitt is on Feb. 3, where they'll face Virginia at the Petersen Events Center for a 7:00 p.m. tip-off.

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