Takeaways From Pitt's Win Over Murray State

Takeaways from the Pitt Panthers' win over Murray State Racers.

Dominic Campbell | Nov 9, 2024

Mar 14, 2024; Washington, D.C., USA; Pittsburgh Panthers head coach Jeff Capel gestures from the bench against the Wake Forest Demon Deacons at Capital One Arena. Mandatory Credit: Geoff Burke-Imagn Images / Geoff Burke-Imagn Images

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Pittsburgh Panthers

PITTSBURGH -- The Pitt Panthers played a much closer game than many expected, but still came out with a solid, 83-68 win over Murray State at the Petersen Events Center.

Pitt Perseveres Through Early Struggles

Pitt took early leads of 19-9 and 29-19 midway through the first half and looked like they'd start to build on their lead and come out with an easy win.

Sophomore guard Jaland Lowe picked up his second foul and would miss most of the remainder of the period, which led to offensive struggle.

The Panthers shot 2-for-7 from the field and scored seven points, while the Racers scored 18 points and shot 8-for-10 from the field with two 3-pointers to take a 37-36 lead with 2:05 to go in the first half.

"It hurt us, but I thought more than anything, we hurt us," Pitt head coach Jeff Capel said on Lowe's departure. "Because defensively, we didn't play as hard or smart as we normally do and I don't know if because we were up 12, we thought it was going to be easy.

"Like I said, they're a prideful program. Our defense hurt our offense because we didn't have much moement on offense. That's an area where we missed Jaland, but really, the last 10 minutes of the half, what hurt us the most was our defense."

Lowe would come back and score both a layup and a 3-pointer to give Pitt a 41-39 lead at halftime, but Murray State stayed in the game through most of the second half before poor shooting and foul trouble doomed them later on in the defeat.

Capel liked that his team dealt with adversity in this game and that it will benefit them going forward, but that this served as a check to how good they think they really are this season.

"I think one of the big things that it does is that it lets us know that, maybe, we aren't as good as we think we are," Capel said. "You know, when you win by 40 in the first game, there's been a lot of great stuff said about us and that's good. I think we have a chance to be a good team, but we're not there yet.

"We have to earn it and we have it to earn it every day and we have to show up, which they do, but we have to do it for 40 minutes. We can't do it for nine minutes, we build a lead and then we think, 'Okay, we can take a rest.' We can't do that..."

Zack Austin/Brandin "Beebah" Cummings Play Role in Win

Redshirt senior forward Zack Austin and freshman guard Brandin "Beebah" Cummings both played important roles for Pitt in their win over Murray State, but not through scoring.

Austin only had two points, but grabbed eight rebounds and blocked three shots in the second half, finishing the game with five total. This tied his most for Pitt since he had five in a home win over Virginia Tech on Feb. 24.

His play served as a big reason why Murray State finished the game shooting 1-for-12 from the field while not making a field goal in the final 7:46.

Austin also came in when both Pitt starters in junior forwards Cam Corhen and Guillermo Diaz Graham picked up four fouls midway through the second half.

Corhen, who had his first double-double for the Panthers with 13 points and 10 rebounds, praised Austin for his play in the victory.

"Rim-protection," Corhen said about Austin. "He was big-time for us. He was the x-factor. We just told him, everything at the rim gotta be his and he held it down."

Cummings had two important plays with Diaz Graham, finding him for a 3-pointer and then for a momentum-shifting dunk on a fast-break that put Pitt up five points at 62-57.

Too smooth 😮‍💨@ambition___3 🤝 @guilleediazz_ pic.twitter.com/yR27oiAswO
— Pitt Basketball (@Pitt_MBB) November 9, 2024

"I thought one of the sparks of the game was Beebah," Capel said on Cummings. "I thought, he drove middle, hit Guillermo for a three that he made and then the very next play, in transition, he made a heck of a pass falling down to Guillermo for a dunk. That got the crowd back in it and gave us a little bit of a cushion and then we were able to make some plays down the stretch..."

The performances from these two players show that Pitt can rely on almost anyone to come into the game and change it at any moment, making them a dangerous team as they face off against better non-conference opponents in late November.

Dunn, Leggett, Lowe are the Best Guard Trio in the ACC

Pitt has run three guards in the starting lineup the past two games, including graduate student Damian Dunn, senior Ish Leggett and Lowe.

All three of them had important moments throughout the win vs. Murray State, accounting for 58 of the 83 points (69.9%) that Pitt scored in the win.

Dunn started out well and finished with 19 points, shooting 6-for-11 from the field, 3-for-5 from 3-point range and 4-for-6 from the foul line. Leggett also had 19 points, shooting 6-for-10 from the field and adding six free throws, while Lowe led with 20 points, making six shots and going a perfect 6-for-6 from the foul line.

Capel chose to start Dunn at the No. 3 spot or small forward, giving him a chance to show his physicality and strong defense against bigger opposition, something he took advantage off offensively vs. the Racers.

"Really just being assertive, being aggressive," Dunn said. "Trusting my teammates. Letting me kind of be free and just be aggressive early on and I think, just rolling with early momentum after seeing a few go down. You get comfortable a little bit and the rim gets a little bigger."

If these three continue to play at a high level, they'll make Pitt one of the better teams in the ACC, if people didn't see them that way already.

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Published Nov 9, 2024