The storyline: Behind a triple-double from Jaland Lowe and spread scoring, Pitt had little trouble dispensing with VMI in a 93-48 blowout win Monday night at the Petersen Events Center.
Records: Pitt (5-0), VMI (4-2)
KenPom pre-game: No. 19 Pitt, No. 340 VMI
Stat leaders:
Jaland Lowe - 11 points, 10 rebounds, 10 assists
Ishmael Leggett - 14 points, 6/9 FG
Guillermo Diaz Graham - 13 points, 5/12 FG
Cameron Corhen - 12 points, 5/5 FG, 6 rebounds
Jorge Diaz Graham - 12 points, 4/4 FG, 4/4 3FG
Lowe’s career night
The star of Pitt’s win on Monday night was Lowe, the sophomore point guard who scored 11 points, grabbed 10 rebounds and dished out 10 assists for his first career triple-double.
Lowe had 11 points, eight rebounds and seven assists when he came back into the game with 3:13 left to play. He collected a pair of defensive boards to hit 10 on the rebounds and then connected with Jorge Diaz Graham for a trio of three-pointers to complete the historic achievement.
Lowe’s triple-double was the sixth in Pitt history. The Panthers got a triple-double from Bub Carrington in last season’s opener; the last triple-double prior to that was in 1998, making the back-to-back nature of Lowe and Carrington’s triple-doubles even more remarkable.
400
Monday night was the 400th game in the history of the Petersen Events Center. The building, which opened in 2002 with a Counting Crows concert, has been hosting Pitt men’s basketball games since the Panthers beat Duquesne on Nov. 22, 2022 of that year; four days shy of exactly 22 years later, Pitt defeated VMI to claim win No. 309 in the building. That ties Pitt with Wisconsin for the seventh-most home wins by a men’s basketball program since the 2002-03 season (although the Badgers host UT Rio Grande Valley tonight).
Pitt is now 309-91 in the Petersen Events Center.
Sleepy stretch - and the response
Pitt attacked the paint and drove throughout the first 10 minutes of the game and built a 19-6 lead with those kinds of scores. But VMI’s biggest threat in the first 20 minutes came during a three-minute stretch when the Keydets rattled off a 12-2 run to cut the lead to three.
After a three-pointer capped the run, Jeff Capel called timeout to rally the troops, and that’s what happened. Leggett hit a three on a pass from Lowe after the timeout, and then Guillermo Diaz Graham executed a steal and fast-break to score again before Leggett recorded a steal himself and fed Lowe, who was fouled and sank two free throws.
Pitt’s lead was back to 10, and the Panthers kept up the intensity for the rest of the half to finish on an 18-2 run and take a 19-point lead at halftime.
Zone response
Pitt has had issues against zone defenses this season, and the zone is VMI’s primary defensive system, so Monday night presented an interesting challenge.
And while the Keydets had some success against the Panthers defensively in the first half, Pitt ultimately ran away from VMI by finding ways to attack the zone across the court - either by scoring in the paint, hitting midrange shots or draining three’s.
The Keydets also pushed the Panthers with a full-court defense and an aggressive, attacking offense.
Stat dominance
Pitt defeated VMI is virtually every stat category. The Panthers outscored the Keydets, of course, but they also held an advantage in rebounding (47-31), made field goals (35-15), three-point field goals (12-6), turnovers (8-15), points off turnovers (20-5), points in the paint (40-18), fast-break points (27-0) and bench points (32-18). VMI’s lone advantage was in second-chance points - 18-11 - built off the Keydets’ 13 offensive rebounds.
Spread scoring
Pitt used 12 players in the game against VMI, and 10 of them got onto the score sheet, from Amsal Delalic’s three points to Leggett’s 14. Six of the 10 scorers also reached double figures.
Among those scorers in double figures was Jorge Diaz Graham, who has found himself seeing limited minutes in recent games but came off the bench to knock down all four of his shots - all three-point attempts - in the game.
Most notably, his final three shots were all on passes from Lowe, and they represented the final three assists Lowe needed to complete his triple-double.
Second-half notables
Pitt was 10-of-15 from three in the second half, and the Panthers had assists on 18 of their 22 made baskets after halftime.
Up next
Pitt will face LSU on Friday afternoon at 2:30 pm in the Greenbrier Tip-Off in White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia.
Records: Pitt (5-0), VMI (4-2)
KenPom pre-game: No. 19 Pitt, No. 340 VMI
Stat leaders:
Jaland Lowe - 11 points, 10 rebounds, 10 assists
Ishmael Leggett - 14 points, 6/9 FG
Guillermo Diaz Graham - 13 points, 5/12 FG
Cameron Corhen - 12 points, 5/5 FG, 6 rebounds
Jorge Diaz Graham - 12 points, 4/4 FG, 4/4 3FG
Lowe’s career night
The star of Pitt’s win on Monday night was Lowe, the sophomore point guard who scored 11 points, grabbed 10 rebounds and dished out 10 assists for his first career triple-double.
Lowe had 11 points, eight rebounds and seven assists when he came back into the game with 3:13 left to play. He collected a pair of defensive boards to hit 10 on the rebounds and then connected with Jorge Diaz Graham for a trio of three-pointers to complete the historic achievement.
Lowe’s triple-double was the sixth in Pitt history. The Panthers got a triple-double from Bub Carrington in last season’s opener; the last triple-double prior to that was in 1998, making the back-to-back nature of Lowe and Carrington’s triple-doubles even more remarkable.
400
Monday night was the 400th game in the history of the Petersen Events Center. The building, which opened in 2002 with a Counting Crows concert, has been hosting Pitt men’s basketball games since the Panthers beat Duquesne on Nov. 22, 2022 of that year; four days shy of exactly 22 years later, Pitt defeated VMI to claim win No. 309 in the building. That ties Pitt with Wisconsin for the seventh-most home wins by a men’s basketball program since the 2002-03 season (although the Badgers host UT Rio Grande Valley tonight).
Pitt is now 309-91 in the Petersen Events Center.
Sleepy stretch - and the response
Pitt attacked the paint and drove throughout the first 10 minutes of the game and built a 19-6 lead with those kinds of scores. But VMI’s biggest threat in the first 20 minutes came during a three-minute stretch when the Keydets rattled off a 12-2 run to cut the lead to three.
After a three-pointer capped the run, Jeff Capel called timeout to rally the troops, and that’s what happened. Leggett hit a three on a pass from Lowe after the timeout, and then Guillermo Diaz Graham executed a steal and fast-break to score again before Leggett recorded a steal himself and fed Lowe, who was fouled and sank two free throws.
Pitt’s lead was back to 10, and the Panthers kept up the intensity for the rest of the half to finish on an 18-2 run and take a 19-point lead at halftime.
Zone response
Pitt has had issues against zone defenses this season, and the zone is VMI’s primary defensive system, so Monday night presented an interesting challenge.
And while the Keydets had some success against the Panthers defensively in the first half, Pitt ultimately ran away from VMI by finding ways to attack the zone across the court - either by scoring in the paint, hitting midrange shots or draining three’s.
The Keydets also pushed the Panthers with a full-court defense and an aggressive, attacking offense.
Stat dominance
Pitt defeated VMI is virtually every stat category. The Panthers outscored the Keydets, of course, but they also held an advantage in rebounding (47-31), made field goals (35-15), three-point field goals (12-6), turnovers (8-15), points off turnovers (20-5), points in the paint (40-18), fast-break points (27-0) and bench points (32-18). VMI’s lone advantage was in second-chance points - 18-11 - built off the Keydets’ 13 offensive rebounds.
Spread scoring
Pitt used 12 players in the game against VMI, and 10 of them got onto the score sheet, from Amsal Delalic’s three points to Leggett’s 14. Six of the 10 scorers also reached double figures.
Among those scorers in double figures was Jorge Diaz Graham, who has found himself seeing limited minutes in recent games but came off the bench to knock down all four of his shots - all three-point attempts - in the game.
Most notably, his final three shots were all on passes from Lowe, and they represented the final three assists Lowe needed to complete his triple-double.
Second-half notables
Pitt was 10-of-15 from three in the second half, and the Panthers had assists on 18 of their 22 made baskets after halftime.
Up next
Pitt will face LSU on Friday afternoon at 2:30 pm in the Greenbrier Tip-Off in White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia.
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