Playing without team leader Ishmael Leggett and down 16 points in the first half, Pitt didn’t have a lot going for it yesterday, except for Jaland Lowe and a very strong bench. The Panthers stormed back and took down the Golden Bears, 86-74.
Lowe scored 27 points, 18 of them in the second half, and dished out 8 assists. Cam Corhen added a career-high 19 points with 11 rebounds and Brandin Cummings scored 15. Cummings started in place of Leggett, who turned an ankle in practice last Saturday when he stepped on Lowe’s foot.
Coach Jeff Capel says he made a concerted effort to get the ball to Lowe, despite Cal paying special attention to him.
Pitt went on a 15-3 run at the end of the first half to cut the deficit, taking advantage of two Cal technical fouls and a four-point play by Jorge Diaz-Graham.
Capel says it took a tremendous team effort to get back in the game.
Pitt continued its first half momentum with a 19-6 start after halftime. The Panthers gave up only two offensive rebounds in the second twenty minutes after giving up nine in the first half, and they committed only one second half turnover after losing the ball seven times ion the first half.
Pitt is 11-2, 2-0 in the ACC. Next up for the Panthers is a home game Saturday against another ACC newcomer, Stanford, which is 9-4, 1-1 in the conference and coming off an 85-71 loss yesterday to Clemson. The Cardinal feature 7-1 big man Maxime Raynaud, a senior from Paris, France who is averaging 20.8 points and 11.9 rebounds per game.
Capel says Raynaud will be an extremely tough matchup for Pitt’s forwards.
Pitt/Stanford tips off Saturday at 3:30 on WCCS.
