Pitt
1-1,1-0ACC
Nicholls State
1-1,0-0Southland
Pitt Falls to Nicholls State, 75-70
11/9/2019 3:24:00 PM | Men's Basketball
PITTSBURGH -- A slow start, turnovers and timely three-point shooting by Nicholls State plagued Pitt in a 75-70 loss Saturday afternoon at the Petersen Events Center. The Panthers dropped just the third home game at the venue in the month of November despite getting a career-high 28 points from guard Ryan Murphy.
"Congratulations to Nicholls State. They were terrific," said head coach Jeff Capel. "I thought their game plan was terrific. They came out with great energy and great togetherness early and really took it to us to start the game. And they had so many of their guys step up and make big plays, make big shots, grab offensive rebounds, take a charge. All the things that good teams do and this is two games now and I've seen them do it in both games. Their coach and coaching staff have that program going in a great direction, so you take your hat off to them and congratulate them. I'm incredibly disappointed in us, and when I say us that's our staff – obviously it starts with me – and our team. We didn't have the energy that was worthy of winning throughout the game."
The Panthers fell behind 9-1 early in the contest as they committed five turnovers before the first media timeout. Nicholls State shot 50 percent from the field and knocked down seven three-point field goals in the opening 20 minutes of play to jump out to a 41-31 halftime advantage.
The turnovers were a theme, as Nicholls jumped out to a big lead with a defense that created 21 turnovers that turned into 26 points. The Colonels supplanted that with a red-hot afternoon from three-point range.
De'Angelo Hunter, a West Virginia transfer playing in his second game at Nicholls, shot 7-of-15 from the floor and 3-of -6 from three-point range as the Colonels dominated from beyond the three-point arc. Kevin Johnson hit 4-of-8 from long range and Jeremiah Buford came off the bench to make 2-of-4. As a team, Nicholls shot 11-of-24 from three-point range.
Murphy was a dominant force for the Panthers. He came off the bench just over three minutes into the game and never came out. He scored a career-high 28 points on 10-of-17 from the floor and made all four of Pitt's three-pointers, going 4-of-7 from long range while the rest of the Panthers were 0-for-9.
The Panthers trimmed the halftime deficit down to one [60-59] on a Xavier Johnson steal and fast break layup with 4:05 remaining to force a Nicholls timeout. The Colonels responded with a 7-0 run aided by a pair of Pitt turnovers and capped off by a Johnson three with 2:26 remaining. Murphy scored seven points during a 9-2 run as Pitt clawed back to within one at 71-70 with 46 seconds remaining.
Miscues again stalled the Pitt rally as the Panthers committed a pair of turnovers in the final 26 seconds of action with a chance to take the lead or tie the contest. Pitt's final turnover led to the Nicholls layup with three seconds remaining that sealed the win over the Colonels.
Murphy's 28-point effort is tied for the second-most points off the bench in program history. He also added career-highs in field goals (10), rebounds (5) and steals (2) in the contest. The Panthers got double-figure scoring efforts from Johnson (10) and Trey McGowens (10), but the tandem also combined to commit nine turnovers in the contest.
BIG PICTURE
Nicholls State might have a hard time finding high-major sparring partners if they keep this up. The Colonels took Illinois to overtime before falling 78-70 in their season opener on Tuesday before upsetting Pitt. They'll have two more chances at big-time upsets when they visit LSU on next Saturday and West Virginia on Dec. 14.
Pitt fell victim to a classic trap game, with their afternoon battle with the Colonels coming on the heels of Wednesday night's season-opening win against ACC foe Florida State. The Panthers proved in that one they can play with anyone, but slow starts shooting have been a common thread. Pitt started 2 of 15 from the floor against the Seminoles and 3 for 15 to begin the game against Nicholls.
UP NEXT
Nicholls State will return to Louisiana for its home opener against Paul Quinn College, an NAIA school from Dallas, on Wednesday night.
Pitt will travel across Allegheny County to play Robert Morris in Moon Township, Pa. on Tuesday to open the Colonials' new UPMC Events Center.
