University of Pittsburgh Athletics
Pitt
13-20,5-13ACC
NC State
20-12,10-8ACC
Panthers Fall to NC State in ACC Tournament Second Round, 98-88
3/11/2026 3:18:00 PM | Men's Basketball
CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Cameron Corhen, Omari Witherspoon and Nojus Indrusaitis all set career scoring highs, but Pitt was unable to sustain a nine-point first-half lead and fell to NC State, 98-88, Wednesday in the second round of the T. Rowe Price ACC Tournament at Spectrum Center. The Panthers close the 2025-26 season at 13-20.
Corhen had a career-high 27 points to go with seven rebounds. He was 9-of-12 from the field and 9-of-11 from the free-throw line. Witherspoon added a career-best 19 points, making three three-pointers, while Indrusaitis, who was a gametime decision following an injury in Tuesday's game, matched Witherspoon with 19 points. Indrusaitis made 5-of-8 three-point attempts and added six assists and four rebounds.
Pitt came out shooting in what became a high-scoring, up-and-down affair. The Panthers connected on nine of their first 16 three-point attempts and made all seven free-throw attempts in the opening half, building a 34-25 advantage with 7:49 remaining. NC State closed the half on a 26-16 run, including a stretch in which it outscored Pitt 13-0, to take a 51-50 lead at the break. The Wolfpack shot 60.9 percent from the field in the first half, going 7-of-9 from three-point range and 16-of-20 at the free-throw line.
NC State came out of the locker room with five straight points and pushed the lead to 61-51 before the Panthers could respond. Pitt's bench made several contributions to keep the deficit manageable in the early going of the second half, Macari Moore's driving layup drew the Panthers to within eight at 66-58, but a quick NC State answer pushed the margin back to double digits. The deficit ballooned to 15 at 73-58 with 13:28 to play before Pitt began its most sustained push of the afternoon.
Out of a timeout, Corhen scored inside, missed the free throw, gathered his own offensive rebound and converted the putback dunk to trim it to 11. Back-to-back three-pointers, first from Barry Dunning Jr. in transition, then Indrusaitis off an offensive rebound, drew the Panthers as close as six at 78-72 with 10:13 to play. But each time Pitt made a run, NC State had an answer. The Panthers got within five at 86-81 on a Roman Siulepa basket inside with 5:29 left before the Wolfpack pulled away for good.
The senior transfer, who had averaged 18.2 points on 56 percent shooting over his final six regular-season games, drew eight fouls and kept Pitt within reach each time the game threatened to get away.
Indrusaitis delivered his best offensive performance of his collegiate career, going 6-of-9 from the field and 5-of-8 from three-point range, the latter a career high. He scored 12 of those points in the first half as Pitt built its lead and hit his fourth three-pointer of the game at the 10:13 mark of the second half to draw the Panthers to within six.
Witherspoon also set a career high on 6-of-11 shooting, knocking down three of his seven three-point attempts and drawing six fouls from the Wolfpack defense. Dunning added 11 points and logged 39 minutes.
Pitt shot 57.1 percent from the field for the game and made 12-of-27 three-pointers (44.4 percent), but connected on just 3-of-11 from beyond the arc in the second half after its 9-of-16 first-half mark. The Panthers were 20-of-25 at the free-throw line.
NC State shot 60.8 percent for the game, made 13-of-23 three-pointers (56.5 percent) and was 23-of-27 at the line. Pitt outrebounded the Wolfpack 23-22 but was outscored 34-28 in the paint.
