Pitt Hosts Montana in Home Opener Monday

Photo by: Alex Mowrey/Pitt Athletics

Pitt Hosts Montana in Home Opener Monday

11/12/2017 2:37:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Pitt (0-1, 0-0 ACC) vs. Montana (1-0, 0-0 Big Sky)
Monday, Nov. 13, 2017 • 7:00 p.m. • ACC Network Extra
Pittsburgh, Pa. • Petersen Events Center

The Opening Tip

Pitt hosts Montana Monday, Nov. 13 in an opening round game of the Progressive Legends Classic. The contest will tip at 7 p.m. at the Petersen Events Center and will be broadcast on ACC Network Extra.
Pitt has won 20 consecutive home openers including all 15 previous lid lifters at the Petersen Events Center. The Panthers last loss in a home opener was a 69-50 decision to a Kevin Stallings-led Illinois State team Nov. 24, 1996.
Ryan Luther and Jonathan Milligan are the lone returning scholarship letterwinners for the Panthers. Pitt welcomes 11 new scholarship players to the roster for the 2017-18 season.

Last Time Out

Pitt dropped its season opener, 71-63, at Navy in the Veterans Classic Friday, Nov. 10, snapping a string of 20 consecutive season opening victories.
Jared Wilson-Frame scored a game-high 20 points on 8-of-17 shooting from the field. The junior guard knocked down four three-point field goals and added two steals in the loss.
Ryan Luther filled the stat sheet with 14 points, eight rebounds, four assists, two steals and a blocked shot in a career-high 36 minutes of action.
Marcus Carr scored 12 points and added four assists in his Panther debut. He went 3-of-5 from three-point range in 31 minutes of action.
Shamiel Stevenson added seven points, nine rebounds and two assists for the Panthers.
Pitt missed its first 13 shots of the second half after shooting 54.2 percent (13-of-24) from the field in the opening 20 minutes of play.

By the Numbers

Pitt is 8-0 in two previous appearances in the Legends Classic, claiming championships in 2008 and 2013.
The Panthers had won 20 consecutive season openers prior to Friday's loss at Navy. Pitt has not lost back-to-back games to start the season since the 1996-97 season.
Pitt is 67-15 all-time in home openers, including a 15-0 mark at the Petersen Events Center.
The Panthers have won 13 straight non-conference games and are 135-5 (.964) overall in non-conference play at the Petersen Events Center.
Pitt is 61-1 all-time in the month of November at the Petersen Events Center with the lone loss coming to Long Beach State, 86-76, Nov. 16, 2011.
The Panthers have won 21 straight home games in the month of November.
Pitt has won 17 consecutive home games against unranked non-conference opponents, dating back to a 60-54 loss to George Washington in the opening round of the 2015 National Invitational Tournament.
The Panthers are one win shy of becoming the sixth team in the ACC to reach the 1,600 win mark. Pitt is 1,599-1127 entering its 111th season of play.
Pitt is one of 12 NCAA Division I programs to post over 400 wins since the start of the 2001-02 season. The Panthers' 401 wins are the fifth most in the ACC in that span.
Jared Wilson-Frame comes to Pitt with a reputation of being an explosive scorer. In two seasons at Northwest Florida State Junior College, he scored 981 points (15.1 ppg.), while making 155 three-point field goals. Wilson-Frame scored 24 points in the exhibition game win over Slippery Rock and posted a game-high 20 points against Navy.
Shamiel Stevenson and Parker Stewart started the season opener becoming the 15th and 16th freshmen in program history to start the first game of their careers. Pitt started two freshmen in the opener for the fourth time in program history (1997-98, 1999-2000 and 2012-13).
Pitt's seven-player freshman class - Terrell Brown, Marcus Carr, Khameron Davis, Samson George, Peace Ilegomah, Shamiel Stevenson and Parker Stewart - is tied for the largest freshman class in the NCAA. Duke, Kentucky and Mount St. Mary's also have seven scholarship freshmen on their respective rosters. Five of the seven played in the season opener combining for 28 points on 9-of-21 (.429) shooting from the field to go along with 13 rebounds and seven assists.
The Panthers' Canadian tandem of Marcus Carr and Shamiel Stevenson combined for 19 points, 10 rebounds and six assists in the season opener.
Pitt is one of six programs in the NCAA returning no starters from a season ago. The Panthers entered the season with an NCAA-low three career starts combined (Ryan Luther [2], Jonathan Milligan [1]) from its roster. Chattanooga and NC Central were second on the list with 11 combined career starts from their rosters.
The Panthers have an NCAA-high 11 scholarship newcomers on the roster this season. Pitt's three returning letterwinners - Ryan Luther, Jonathan Milligan and Zach Smith - is tied for the fifth fewest in the NCAA.
Pitt's five international prospects - Marcus Carr, Kene Chukwuka, Samson George, Peace Ilegomah and Shamiel Stevenson - are the most in program history.
Pitt's roster features seven players with wingspans of 6-10 or better. Freshmen Peace Ilegomah and Terrell Brown lead the way with wingspans of 7-4 and 7-3, respectively.
Pitt set a school record with 263 three-point field goals a year ago. Kevin Stallings-led teams have made 250 or more threes in six of the past seven seasons. The Panthers went 8-of-28 (.286) from three-point range in the season opener.
Pitt missed its first 13 shots and was outscored 13-1 over the opening 10 minutes of the second half of play against Navy. The Panthers went 10-of-18 (.556) from the field after the initial shooting drought to start the half.