Pitt obliterated by Miami at the Pete 85-64

Pitt hosted Miami for an ACC tilt at the Petersen Events Center on Tuesday night, and despite their recent success, the Panthers headed into the matchup as four-point underdogs. As it turned out, oddsmakers foresaw the right outcome but were overly optimistic about Pitt’s abilities, as the Panthers were routed by the Hurricanes 85-64.

Miami opened the scoring in the contest with a three-point bucket by Charlie Moore, and from there, the Hurricanes would go on a 14-2 run, establishing their dominance early. The Panthers would respond with a 10-0 run to make it 14-12 and re-insert themselves into the game. However, Moore would answer with six points of his own in 57 seconds, and Pitt would then lose Mouhamadou Gueye to a hand injury after a nasty collision with Deng Gak.

By the midway point of the opening half, the Panthers still had a pulse, as a Jamarius Burton jumper made it 20-14. But with Gueye, who had come up with eight points in under two minutes, no longer in the game, Pitt appeared to be in a precarious spot. That proved to be the case, as the Hurricanes went on a 27-13 run to close out the half and sufficiently distance themselves from the Panthers, with the halftime score 47-27.

Although John Hugley had a solid first half, with nine points and three rebounds, he got little help from his teammates, aside from Gueye, as they combined for just 10 points, with none exceeding four. Meanwhile, Miami got 27 points, which was Pitt’s total, from Charlie Moore and Kameron McGusty alone.

There was brief cause for optimism among the Pitt faithful early in the second half, as Mouhamadou Gueye returned to the court. However, with the Panthers down 20 and their turnovers (20) almost as plentiful as their made shots (25), they failed to chip away at the Hurricanes’ lead and get back into the game. On top of that, Miami was pretty well locked in, and as a result, they added to their total and ultimately won by a score of 85-64.

John Hugley led Pitt in scoring in the game, with 20 points in addition to seven rebounds. He eventually got some support from his fellow starters as well, with Mouhamadou Gueye, Jamarius Burton and Femi Odukale all scoring in double figures. But with just five points from its bench, Pitt was outpaced by Miami, which got 19 points each from Charlie Moore, Kameron McGusty and its bench.

With the loss, Pitt fell to 11-18 on the season and 6-12 in ACC play. Meanwhile, Miami notched its 20th win, improving to 20-8 overall and 12-5 in conference. Now, with a three-game winning streak having given way to a two-game losing streak, Pitt will once again attempt to right the ship in its next matchup. Unfortunately, that happens to be a date with No. 7 Duke in Pittsburgh next Tuesday.