Pitt bludgeoned by Mississippi State 90-57
Pitt falls to Mississippi State in SEC/ACC Challenge
The Story — Pitt took part in the second annual SEC/ACC Challenge on Tuesday night, and it’s a night the team would probably like to forget. The Mississippi State Bulldogs blew past the No. 18 Panthers with relative ease by a score of 90-57 at Humphrey Coliseum in Starkville.
The Bulldogs broke the doors open early on the strength of a 22-3 run the Panthers were never able to recover from on Wednesday night, as they dropped to 7-2 on the season. Pitt shot 31%, while Mississippi State shot nearly 60% as a team. Five players reached double figures led by big man Keyshawn Murphy, who topped all scorers with 20 points.
The Bulldogs had two players reach double-figures in rebounding, with a 49-27 overall edge there. Jaland Lowe paced Pitt with 19 points, and freshman Brandin Cummings chipped in with 12 off the bench.
Mississippi State’s lead never dropped below 23 points in the second half.
Team MVP — Jaland Lowe
Pitt sophomore point guard Jaland Lowe finished with a team-high 19 points. He connected on four 3-pointers, but finished 7-of-21 from the field overall. He added four rebounds, three assists, two steals, but also three turnovers as well. Lowe was the only player on Pitt who seemed to really have a chance of getting anything going, but the Bulldogs made him work for everything as well. They locked in on him and made it difficult for him to maneuver, even though he still found 19 points out there somehow.
Turning point — The 22-3 run
It was 10-8 in favor of Mississippi State with 15 minutes to go in the first. Pitt just had a mini 6-0 run and looked like the Panthers may have settled into the game after a slow start.
Well, not so much.
It was pretty much a full on clinic from this point forward. Pitt only had one field goal, a Zack Austin three, during a nine minute stretch. The game was pretty much over while this run was happening. Pitt showed zero signs of snapping out of it and ultimately never did.
Bullied by the Bulldogs
I could write a bunch of creative things, or I can just rattle off the numbers. Mississippi State out-rebounded Pitt 49-27. The Bulldogs had a 52-14 edge in points in the paint. The SEC squad also flexed with 24-12 margin on second chance points for good measure.
There it is, that was the game right there. Mississippi State looked bigger, stronger, and faster. The Panthers also just got pushed around and Mississippi State won nearly every 50/50 ball. Pitt’s lack of muscle seemed very apparent in this fight and simply the resolve to push back as well.
Ice cold
Pitt shot 10-of-32 from the floor in the first half. You would think it might get better, or even worse. But no, it actually stayed the same. The Panthers matched it with another 10-32 clip after halftime for a 31.3% average for the game.
There were just very few comfortable offensive possessions for this team on Wednesday. They were out of sorts from the start, and outside of Lowe, nobody did anything of note. It Brandin Cummings hit a couple of 3s and finish with 12 points, as he needed to start seeing a few go through the net. Leading scorer Ishmael Leggett finished with six points on 3-of-14 shooting in the toughest game of his Pitt career. It was just an ugly night.
No charity
The Panthers only drew two fouls in the first half and shot 2-of-2 from the line. It set the tone for the game. The officiating was extremely consistent in this game and I didn’t see a problem with it either. But how the game was called favored the Bulldogs.
Pitt’s strength is having its two guards getting downhill and sort of making defenders make decisions, which can lead to drawing fouls. That just didn’t happen in this game. The refs let things go, which is a stark contrast from last week’s game against Ohio State, when Pitt attempted 30 free throws. The refs holding the whistle allowed Mississippi State to use its athleticism to just sort of clog the lane, which tends to stunt Pitt’s offense.
Not too challenging
Pitt’s result against Mississippi State was far from being an outlier in the SEC-ACC Challenge. In fact, I also apologize to organizers of this event, because I now see why that conference was listed first all along. This was a pure and utter beatdown by the SEC over the past two nights with the current tally of 14-1 in favor of the conference where it just means more.
What it means
Obviously, losing a game by 33 points is a tough look. The Panthers are now 7-2 on the season, and the momentum from the Ohio State win has subsided. This was expected to be a tough game in a tough stretch, and it proved to be that. Given the way the ACC performed over the past two days, this is simply a bad look for the conference and there is no way around that. Pitt should still expect to be one of the better teams in the league, and Wednesday's result does not change that.
I think it means the bubble certainly is going to be competitive again when it comes to NCAA Tournament bids for the ACC later in the year. Pitt appears to be ahead of the metrics and is in a better spot than last season. Remember, Michigan trounced Pitt 91-60 two years ago and the Panthers still made the tournament. It’s a tough loss, but it’s also only December 4th.
What’s next
Pitt will be on the road for a fifth consecutive time on Saturday. The Panthers will open ACC play with a standalone game against Virginia Tech, set for a 2:00 tip in Blacksburg on ESPNU. Pitt will then play two more non-conference games before the complete ACC slate resumes on New Year’s Day.
