Pitt Plays Best When Going Small

The emergence of Jaland Lowe gives the Pitt Panthers a new dimension.

PITTSBURGH -- The Pitt Panthers entered their fourth ACC contest of the season still winless in league play and missing a key veteran from their thin backcourt, but that might have been a blessing in disguise because it has allowed them to discover a new, intriguing and productive lineup combination. 

The Panthers were forced to use their fourth different starting lineup of the season because of an injury to Ishmael Leggett but in doing so, might have found the optimal organization of their backcourt duties, one that features Jaland Lowe as the primary ball-handler and Bub Carrington serving as more of an off-the-ball threat.

Pitt's been experimenting for much of the season, playing around with different lineups to find the most efficient usage of its deep roster and now they've learned something out of necessity - that increasing Lowe's minutes not only makes him better, but the team as well. 

Lowe has begun to take on more and more responsibility for controlling the offense as he begins to get more settled in as a college basketball player. He ended up taking over the primary ball-handling duties in the second half of their last contest against North Carolina and made his first start against Louisville. 

Against the Cardinals, he shined and continued to put some tangible evidence behind a notion that head coach Jeff Capel has held for a while - that Lowe, who had played second fiddle to Bub Carrington for most of the season to this point, is just as good and getting better, especially as of late. 

Lowe is averaging 9.3 points, three rebounds and three assists to just one turnover per game while making 47.4% of his field goals and 42.8% of his 3-point attempts over the last three games. He's playing more than he ever has, too, averaging 22.7 minutes per appearance and setting career-highs for minutes played in both the North Carolina and Louisville. 

Lowe posted a team-high plus-minus of +18 against the Cardinals, a reflection of his ability to subtly keep things under control with a steady hand on the basketball. 

"Terrific. Terrific," senior forward Blake Hinson said, evaluating Lowe's afternoon. "Way to step up into something that was kind of thrown out the blue. ... To mentally prepare yourself and play like that is terrific and he did a good job and that's the standard we hold him too."

Even Carrington seemed to have benefitted from having an extra pure point guard in the backcourt with him. He's pulled almost completely out of a midseason shooting skid and has been playing with better pace and control when Lowe is on the court with him. 

“They didn’t play like freshmen," Louisville head coach Kenny Payne said. "They were poised, they were under control and took what the defense gave them. They put pressure on us and competed defensively. They were good. They were very good.”

Carrington did his part to keep Pitt organized as well and was second on the team in plus-minus with a +9 mark. Those two were locked in a competition for a starting job during the preseason but their relationship remained supportive and now the two can work as partners on the court together. 

Whether or not Ishmael Leggett will be healthy enough to return to the lineup for the Panthers' next game against Duke is an open question but he will start when he returns despite some recent, perhaps injury-induced shooting struggles. 

So the question of who would get sent to the bench as Lowe's playing time ramps up is clear - the Panthers can go smaller to maximize their talent, with all three of their best guards on the floor at the same time in Lowe, Carrington and Leggett alongside Hinson and one of either Guillermo Diaz Graham or Federiko Federiko manning the center spot.

It makes Zack Austin the odd man out, but he's proven that he can be a productive player off the bench as well. 

Sure, it makes Pitt smaller and might take away some from their outstanding rebounding numbers but that's worth it to bring his playmaking, shot creation and poise into the lineup on a more frequent basis. 

Lowe has simply been too good to keep off the floor and as his obvious talent translates more and more into production in games, the Panthers can't afford to contain him and they can best unleash his talents by making him a member of the lineups that open and close games. 

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