Pitt Suffers Road Blowout to Mississippi State

Pitt Panthers suffered a road blowout loss to Mississippi State.

Feb 17, 2024; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA; Pittsburgh Panthers head coach Jeff Capel reacts on the sidelines against the Louisville Cardinals during the first half at the Petersen Events Center. Pittsburgh won 86-59. Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images / Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images

PITTSBURGH -- The No. 18 Pitt Panthers struggled throughout their road matchup to Mississippi State, suffering a blowout, 90-57, in the ACC/SEC Challenge.

Pitt drops just their second games of the season, 7-2 overall, as they lost to then ranked No. 19 Wisconsin in the Greenbrier Tip-Off Championship at The Greenbrier in White Sulphur Springs, W.Va. on Nov. 24.

Mississippi State (7-1) also gets revenge for losing to Pitt in the First Four of the 2023 NCAA Tournament, 60-59, in just the second matchup between the two programs.

The Bulldogs opened up the game with a 10-2 run and built their lead to 32-11 and finished up 47-25 at halftime.

Misssissippi State shot 21-for-39, 53.8% from the field in the first half, but 65.4%, 17-for-26 from inside the arc. They also outrebounded Pitt, 27-14, and on the offensive glass, 10-5, while also having advantages on second-chance points, 17-2, on points in the paint, 32-8, and on points off of turnovers, 11-0.

The Bulldogs had eight players score in the first half. Redshirt junior forward KeShawn Murphy led with 10 points, shooting 5-for-7 from the floor, while graduate student forward Cameron Matthews and sophomore guard Josh Hubbard added eight points each.

Pitt shot 10-for-32, 31.3%, from the field and 3-for-11, 27.3%, from 3-point range. Sophomore guard Jaland Lowe scored nine points and redshirt senior forward Zack Austin scored eight points, the only two players to score more than two points on Pitt. Senior guard Ishmael Leggett sruggled in the period, with just two points and shooting 1-for-7 from the field and 0-for-3 from deep.

The second half, as Lowe was the only Pitt player to score in double-digits with 10 points, while the team shot poorly in the period. He finished the game with 19 points, but shot just 7-for-21 from the field, although, he did go 4-for-9 from behind the arc.

Murphy would dominate for the Bulldogs, with 10 more points, shooting 3-for-3 from the field and 4-for-4 from the foul line, finishing with a career-high 20 points and also grabbed seven rebounds.

Freshman guard Brandin Cummings had a decent game off the bench for the Panthers, scoring a season-high 12 points, shooting 4-for-8 from the field, 2-for-3 from 3-point range and 2-for-2 from the foul line.

The 33-point loss is tied for the worst under head coach Jeff Capel. They lost by 33 points last season on the road to Wake Forest, 91-58, on Feb. 20.

Pitt will look to bounce back as they face Virginia Tech on the road on Dec. 7 at 2:00 p.m. in their ACC opener.

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