Takeaways: Pitt's Disappointment Continues

The Pitt Panthers failed to perform adequately against SMU.

Feb 11, 2025; Dallas, Texas, USA; Pittsburgh Panthers guard Ishmael Leggett (5) looks to move the ball past Southern Methodist Mustangs guard B.J. Edwards (0) during the second half at Moody Coliseum. Mandatory Credit: Jerome Miron-Imagn Images / Jerome Miron-Imagn Images

PITTSBURGH — The Pitt Panthers continued their losing streak with a road defeat to SMU, which served as another disappointing performance at this point of the season.

Poor Starts Keep Dooming Pitt

Pitt constantly finds themselves behind early in games, and their loss to SMU was much of the same of this bad trend.

The Mustangs led 15-11, but then outscored the Panthers 21-5 over a 10 minute period, building a 20-point lead that the road team never threatened the rest of the way.

Pitt shot 2-for-16 from the field during this stretch and by this point in the first half, turned the ball over eight times, which SMU turned into quick baskets on the fastbreak and 14 points in total.

The Panthers have trailed at halftime for all but two of their 13 ACC games this season, their 83-68 win over the Stanford Cardinal on Jan. 4 and the 76-74 road loss against the Wake Forest Demon Deacons on Feb. 1.

Pitt has also trailed by double-digits in the first half in seven of those 13 games and have at least trailed by eight points in every single conference game.

The Panthers sometimes find ways to comeback in games, but they're always in this position, which leads to difficult situations and high pressure basketball throuhgout the entire game, just to get the deficit under control.

Pitt has ruined their season by their poor starts in the ACC, and their non-conference schedule wasn't much better, as they trailed in three games and had two games against mid-majors, where they led by less than three points.

If the Panthers want any chance of salvaging this season, they must play better basketball earlier on in games and get things under control faster.

Cam Corhen Puts in Another Frustrating Performance

Pitt junior forward Cameron Corhen played badly in the loss to SMU and it started early on in the game.

Corhen fouled Mustangs freshman center Samet Yiğitoğlu and then set a poor screen on the next possession, failing to properly get in front of Mustangs junior guard B.J. Edwards. All of this occurred in the first two minutes, sending Corhen to the bench with two fouls.

He then came back in at the 8:39 mark and would run back to play defense, but failed to see SMU redshirt junior guard Boopie Miller, who drew the foul for his third in the first half.

Corhen played 16 minutes in the second half, but he finished with just 20 minutes total as the starting center. His production wasn't great either, just six points, four rebounds and two steals, almost all of which came in the second half.

He came off a solid performance vs. North Carolina on Feb. 8 on the road, where he scored 17 points, shot 7-for-9 from the field and 3-for-4 from the foul line and looked like he would use that vs. SMU.

Corhen instead missed most of the first half, played unremarkably in the second half and had little impact on a game that Pitt needed much more from him.

He also had no answer for Yiğitoğlu, who scored 17 points, making 7-of-11 shots from the field and 3-for-5 from the foul line, plus 10 rebounds for a double-double.

Corhen has struggled with consistency this sesaon, as he's had a few good games, but then some terrible ones as well.

He has scored in double-digits in seven of the 13 games, but also six points or less in four of those games.

Corhen has also only registered double-digit rebounds twice this season and once in ACC play, with 11 in the 83-68 win over Cal on Jan. 1, as he averages just 5.3 rebounds per game.

His struggles in the rebouding department have hurt Pitt, who average just 33.6 rebounds per game, fifth least in the ACC, and 30.2 rebounds per game in conference play, third least.

The Panthers need more from Corhen, who they brought in from Florida State last offseason, but simply haven't gotten it consistently this season.

Diaz Graham, Cummings Impress in Resounding Defeat

While there isn't much great happening for a team that just lost its fourth straight and eighth game in its last 10, the Panthers had two players who had solid performances in the defeat to the Mustangs.

Junior forward Guillermo Diaz Graham returned to the starting lineup for Pitt after coming off the bench the past four games.

He started the first 16 games of the season and 18 contests overall, before graduate student Damian Dunn returned from injury and head coach Jeff Capel preferred redshirt senior Zack Austin over him.

Dunn recently suffered an injury in the last game vs. UNC, putting Diaz Graham back in the starting rotation.

Diaz Graham led Pitt with 15 points, shooting 5-for-9 from the field, 3-for-6 from 3-point range and 2-for-3 from the foul line. He also led Pitt with eight rebounds, playing 32 minutes in the loss, taking advantage of his opoortuntiy.

Freshman guard Brandin "Beebah" Cummings came off the bench and provided some energy for the Panthers.

He scored 12 points, one of just three Pitt players in double-digits along with senior guard Ishmael Leggett and Diaz Graham. He also made two 3-points, shot a perfect 4-for-4 from the foul line, dished three assists and made three steals.

With Dunn likely out the rest of the season and Lowe potentially out with a concussion, Cummings has a great chance to impress the remainder of the campaign and assume a bigger role as a sophomore.

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