Pitt pulls away from Robert Morris 71-57
By WILL GRAVES AP Sports Writer
MOON TOWNSHIP, Pa. (AP) — A double-digit deficit on the road. A capacity crowd in full throat. Pittsburgh has been there plenty over last two-plus years. And faltered each and every time.
For once, the Panthers pushed back, a small sign of growth for a program hoping to take another step toward respectability in head coach Jeff Capel’s second season.
Trey McGowens scored 25 points and Terrell Brown added eight points, nine rebounds and a career-high five blocks as Pitt spoiled the unveiling of Robert Morris’ sparkling UPMC Events Center in a 71-57 win on Tuesday night. Three days after getting upset at home by Nicholls State, the Panthers (2-1) responded by snapping a 24-game road losing streak that stretched back nearly three years.
The Colonials (0-3) used an 18-0 run in the first half to take an 11-point lead. Six-plus years after upsetting defending national champion Kentucky in a National Invitational Tournament game at the since-demolished Sewall Center, Robert Morris again staggered a Power Five conference team.
The Panthers, however, recovered behind McGowens’ relentlessness and the 6-foot-10 Brown’s dominance in the lane as Pitt earned its first true road victory since beating Boston College on Feb. 8, 2017.
“When they made their run, it was loud, we could have folded,” Capel said. “We have to understand the importance of each day. We are not a program and we don’t have the type of talent where you can just show up.”
A lesson the Panthers learned painfully against Nicholls State, a game in which Pitt led for just 35 seconds against a team picked to finish 11th in the Southland Conference. The Colonials, perennial contenders in the Northeastern Conference under coach Andy Toole, represented a bit of a step up in class. Throw in the debut of their new $45 million, 4,000-seat gym — a building that’s a testament to both the program Toole has built and the rapid expansion at the school of more than 5,000 students located 20 miles west of Pitt’s Oakland campus — and Robert Morris had all the intangibles required to beat the Panthers for the first time in 31 meetings.
The Colonials just didn’t have the tools necessary to slow down McGowens or overcome Brown’s size.
“Terrell Brown was really the difference in the game,” Toole said. “His ability to protect the rim, and make it hard for our guys to finish around the basket had a huge impact on us offensively.”
Josh Williams led Robert Morris with 12 points, Jalen Hawkins added 11 off the bench and Yannis Mendy had 10 points and six rebounds, but the Colonials — who didn’t have a player over 6-feet-8 — couldn’t keep pace over the final 20 minutes. Pitt, which scrambled back from the early hole to tie it at halftime, opened the second half with a 22-10 surge that broke it open.
The Panthers outrebounded Robert Morris 39-27, dominated Robert Morris in second-chance points (14-2) and kept the Colonials off the free throw line. Robert Morris didn’t even attempt a free throw in the second half and finished with just six for the game. McGowens, by comparison, made 8 of 10 at the line after getting to the stripe just nine times total over his first two games.
“I was just letting it come to me,” McGowens said.
PACKED HOUSE, NEW DAY?
Toole hopes the response to the debut of the Colonials’ glittering new venue — particularly from a raucous student section — is a sign of things to come. Robert Morris has averaged 20 wins a season over the last 12 years but all that success didn’t necessarily translate to a rowdy atmosphere at the Sewall Center. He thinks that can change going forward.
“I think this could become a great home court for us if we can get the campus and community support that I think these guys deserve,” Toole said. “It was a fun environment for them to come and cheer and be connected as a university community. I think that’s something to build upon. There’s a great source of pride being able to be in this building finally.”
BIG PICTURE
Pitt: The Panthers need to find some sort of identity on offense if they’re going to take another step forward in coach Jeff Capel’s second season. Through three games, Pitt has relied heavily on McGowens and Xavier Johnson getting to the basket. When they’re either finishing at the rim or getting fouled, the Panthers are competitive. When they’re not — as they weren’t against Nicholls State — Pitt will struggle to generate offense.
Robert Morris: The Colonials will have a chance to make some noise in the NEC. Picked to finish fifth, Robert Morris should be plenty battle-tested thanks to a nonconference schedule that includes games against Marquette and UNLV before league play begins.
UP NEXT
Pitt: Faces longtime rival West Virginia for the 129th time on Friday when the Mountaineers visit the Petersen Events Center.
Robert Morris: Plays Howard on Friday night in Toledo, Ohio as part of the Men Against Breast Cancer Invitational.
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Nicholls State uses long ball to upset Pitt 75-70
By ALAN SAUNDERS Associated Press
PITTSBURGH (AP) — The first time Nicholls State had a chance to upset a high-major opponent this season, the Colonels fell behind Illinois before coming back to force overtime.
After losing that game in the extra period, the Colonels knew what they needed to do to get a win on Saturday in a tough road environment at Pittsburgh.
“Hit them in the mouth first.”
That’s the message redshirt senior guard D’Angelo Hunter professed as the Colonels faced Pitt, and then he led the charge doing just that.
Hunter scored a team-high 17 points as this time it was Nicholls that raced out to a 10-point first-half lead and then held on late to upset the Panthers 75-70.
“We’ve been stressing these last few days to come out and try to jump on them,” Colonels head coach Austin Claunch said. “The way we play, we can do that.”
Pitt mounted a second-half comeback bid, but a turnover on a traveling violation by sophomore Pitt guard Au’Diese Toney with the Panthers trailing by three and 25 seconds left on the clock ended any chance of that.
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 3-point range.
“They came out with great energy, great togetherness early and really just took it to us, right from the start of the game,” Pitt head coach Jeff Capel said. “They had so many guys step up and make big plays, make big shots.”
Hunter, a West Virginia transfer playing in his second game at Nicholls, shot 7 of 15 from the floor and 3 of 6 from 3-point range as the Colonels dominated from beyond the 3-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 3-point range.
“I’ve been preparing for a while,” Hunter said. “I just finally got the opportunity. . I’m just excited to be here.”
Junior college transfer Ryan 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 game-high 28 points on 10 of 17 from the floor and made all four of Pitt’s 3-pointers, going 4 of 7 from long range while the rest of the Panthers were 0 for 9.
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.
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Goodwin leads Notre Dame past Robert Morris 92-57
By ANTHONY ANDERSON Associated Press
SOUTH BEND, Ind. (AP) — Mike Brey liked what he saw at both ends of the court, and particularly in light of how young this college basketball season is.
“This is what, 20 home openers?” Brey said of his time as Notre Dame coach following Saturday’s 92-57 blowout victory over Robert Morris.
“I don’t know if I’ve ever been more pleased about one, given what I needed to see after last year,” the coach said. “I saw some stuff today that I was going, man, that’s really good to see in November.”
Last season, the Fighting Irish (1-1) went 14-19, their worst record under Brey. On Saturday, according to the coach, they were a team that was fast, yet controlled, on offense, a team that guarded effectively and a team that performed fearlessly.
Dane Goodwin led a balanced attack with 18 points off the bench as Notre Dame improved to 20-0 in home openers under Brey.
T.J. Gibbs added 15 points, Prentiss Hubb 13, Robby Carmody 13 and John Mooney a double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds.
Already leading 39-20 at the break, the ball-sharing Irish effectively put the game away with a 16-2 spree over the first four minutes of the second half for a 55-23 advantage. All five ND starters scored during that spurt.
Josh Williams netted 18 of his game-high 21 points for the Colonials (0-2) in the second half, finishing 6-of-16 on 3-pointers, but little else went right for the visitors.
“I thought our effort was horrendous,” RMU coach Andrew Toole said. “Obviously, their guys really know how to play. They take advantage of any crack in your armor. They’ll expose your weaknesses if you’re not engaged or urgent, and they did it to us all day long.”
The Irish shot 57% from the field while holding the Colonials to 34%. Notre Dame also made 22 of 25 free throws to the visitors’ 2 of 4.
“I think we sent a big message today,” senior Rex Pflueger said of ND’s bounce back from Tuesday’s season-opening 76-65 loss at No. 9 North Carolina. “It was a tough game down there. We had a real shot to win, but the maturity to come to practice the next day and get after it, get after each other, and to come into today and play the way we did, I think it sends a good message.”
BIG PICTURE
Robert Morris: The Colonials, who appeared to offer little in the way of defensive resistance, will need to get accustomed to trying to solve opposing offenses on the road. Nine of their first 11 games are away from home.
Notre Dame: Returning nearly their entire team from a season ago, the Irish have a chance to continue building momentum before they get into the thick of their Atlantic Coast Conference schedule. Just two of their first 15 games are against currently ranked clubs and one of those already took place with the loss at Carolina.
BENCH POTENCY
Goodwin’s 18 in just 18 minutes were part of 42 points that the Irish bench contributed. Carmody’s 13 points also came in a reserve role.
“We didn’t have any drop-off,” said Brey, who indicated that he’ll likely remain comfortable with a rotation of nine players.
Goodwin finished 6 of 8 from the field and 5 of 5 at the line, while Carmody was 4 of 6 and 5 of 6. Nate Laszewski chipped in nine points and eight rebounds over 15 minutes off the bench.
All three are sophomores.
HUBB HEATING
Hubb’s 5-of-8 shooting included 3 of 6 outside the arc, and it followed the sophomore guard’s career-high 22 points at Carolina.
Hubb is 13 of 25 from the field overall and 8 of 15 on 3-pointers over two games after struggling mightily during his freshman season at just 35% overall and 26% on triples.
“He’s a big-time threat,” Brey said. “He’s really quarterbacking us now, running stuff, and now our (other) passers find him. I love that he’s stepping up and taking it. He was streaky last year, but throughout his life, he’s been able to make open shots, so I just want him confidently pulling up.”
UP NEXT
Robert Morris: The Colonials host neighboring nemesis Pittsburgh on Tuesday in their only home contest among their first seven games. RMU has never beaten the Panthers over 30 meetings, the last coming in November 2011.
Notre Dame: The Irish play the second of six straight home games when Howard visits Tuesday. Notre Dame has never faced the Bison.
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