Pitt Opens Season Friday at Navy in Veterans Classic

Friday, November 10

Annapolis, MD

9:00 PM

Pitt

Navy

Pitt Opens Season Friday at Navy in Veterans Classic

11/8/2017 9:26:00 AM | Men's Basketball

Game Notes (PDF)Live Stats

2017-18 Pitt Men's Basketball Media Guide
Stallings Press Conference 11/8
Luther Press Conference 11/8

Pitt (0-0, 0-0 ACC) vs. Navy (0-0, 0-0 Patriot)
Friday, Nov. 10, 2017 • 9:00 p.m. • CBS Sports Network
Annapolis, Md. • Alumni Hall

The Opening Tip

Pitt opens the 2017-18 season on the road against Navy in the Veterans Classic Friday, Nov. 10. The contest is the second game of a doubleheader at Alumni Hall and will be broadcast on CBS Sports Network.
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.
Pitt is starting the season with a true road game for the first time since the 1994-95 campaign when it dropped a 90-67 decision to No. 2 North Carolina in Chapel Hill, N.C.
Kevin Stallings opens his 25th season as a head coach with a record of 471-300. Pitt finished 16-17 in his first season at the helm of the program.

Last Time Out

Pitt posted a 71-59 win over Slippery Rock Saturday, Nov. 4 in its lone public exhibition game of the preseason.
Jared Wilson-Frame scored a game-high 24, including 15 in the opening half of play. He was 8-of-14 from the field, including 3-of-5 from three-point range, and 5-of-6 from the foul line.
Shamiel Stevenson added 16 points and a team-high eight rebounds off the bench. He went 4-of-6 from the field with a three-point field goal and 7-of-8 from the foul line in the win.
Marcus Carr had a solid all-around game finishing with 12 points, six rebounds, three assists and three steals.
After a slow start, Pitt used a 36-12 run to take control of the game and build a 17-point lead with 14:47 remaining in the contest.

By the Numbers

Pitt has posted 20 consecutive season-opening wins, dating back to the 69-50 loss to a Kevin Stallings-led Illinois State team Nov. 24, 1996. The Panthers are 77-33 all-time in season openers.
Kevin Stallings is 19-5 in season openers, including a 93-90 double-overtime win over Eastern Michigan in his first game at Pitt. Stallings has guided his teams to 10 consecutive season-opening wins and is 17-1 in the first game of the year over the past 18 seasons.
The Panthers enter the 2017-18 season 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.
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 is one of six programs in the NCAA returning no starters from a season ago. The Panthers have an NCAA-low three career starts combined (Ryan Luther [2], Jonathan Milligan [1]) from its roster. Chattanooga and NC Central are second on the list with 11 combined career starts from their rosters.
Ryan Luther is Pitt's top returnee after averaging 5.7 points and 3.9 rebounds per game a year ago. He enters his senior season averaging 4.3 points and 2.6 rebounds over 76 career games (two starts). Luther holds a .557 (123-of-221) career field goal percentage, including a .431 (22-of-51) mark from beyond the three-point arc.
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.
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 showcased his abilities in the exhibition game, making seven of his final eight field goal attempts to finish with a game-high 24 points. He went 8-of-14 from the field, including 3-of-5 from three-point range, and 5-of-6 from the foul line.
Monty Boykins, a grad transfer from Lafayette, averaged 6.0 points per game in six previous meetings against Navy.
Pitt's five international prospects - Marcus Carr, Kene Chukwuka, Samson George, Peace Ilegomah and Shamiel Stevenson - are the most in program history.
Shamiel Stevenson came off the bench to record 16 points and a team-high eight rebounds in Pitt's exhibition win over Slippery Rock. He was 4-of-6 from the field and 7-of-8 from the foul line in 27 minutes of action.
Khameron Davis did not play in the exhibition game after suffering a foot injury in a closed scrimmage against Villanova.
Pitt shot an impressive 78.6 percent (22-of-28) from the foul line against Slippery Rock as five players shot four or more free throws in the contest.
Pitt's roster features eight 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.
Ryan Luther and Navy's Shawn Anderson were high school rivals. Luther scored 17 points and grabbed nine rebounds in a 68-53 WPIAL championship game loss to New Castle in the last meeting between the two.
Pitt has won five consecutive games and is 75-54 all-time against current Patriot League teams.