Pitt basketball remains at home for a non-conference matchup with Gardner-Webb Monday night.
Friday night’s win over Murray State gave the Panthers a first glimpse of what adversity looks like this season, but Pitt was able to prevail. The Panthers now look ahead to another tough test against Gardner-Webb.
General Information:
Teams: Pitt (2-0) and Gardner-Webb (1-1)
Tip-Off Time: 7 p.m. EST
Watch: ACC Network Extra
Listen: 93.7 The Fan
What to Know About Gardner-Webb:
Gardner-Webb may not be a mid-major team that college basketball fans know about the way they know about James Madison, but the Runnin’ Bulldogs are a sleeper team in the Big South conference. While it is fresh off of a win against North Carolina Central, Gardner-Webb battled for 40 minutes against nationally-ranked Tennessee.
Darryl Simmons II and Anthony Selden are the dynamic duo to watch for the Runnin’ Bulldogs. The pair of guards are accounting for about 39-40 points per game. Selden provides the experience as he returns to Gardner-Webb after a brief stint at Rice last season.
To put it simply, the Runnin’ Bulldogs are a physical team. Not many teams can say they out-rebounded a top-25 team, but Gardner-Webb can add that to its resume. This spells trouble for the Panthers who have struggled in the rebounding department in their first two games.
One important note about the Runnin’ Bulldogs is they don’t shoot three-pointers very often. They haven’t shot more than 12 threes in a single half this year and attempted just seven in the win over NC Central.
This is something Jeff Capel can keep in the back of his head going into Monday night’s matchup. He can lock things down inside the perimeter and dare Gardner-Webb to beat him from three-point range.
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The Panthers are looking to build on Friday’s 83-68 win over Murray State. It wasn’t pretty by any means, but all wins count the same in the standings. Cam Corhen recorded his first double-double in a Panthers uniform while Damian Dunn scored 19.
As good as the offense was for Pitt, the first-half defense (or lack of) was the big concern after the win. The Racers shot over 55% from the field in the opening 20 minutes. While things got better in the second half, Capel knows it has to be better moving forward.
“We have to earn it, we have to earn it every day,” said Capel after the game against Murray State. “We have to show up, which they do, but we have to do it for 40 minutes. We can’t do it for nine minutes, build a lead and then think ‘okay, we can take a rest.’ We can’t do that.”
While Pitt did win by 15, the team needs more offense from the foul line. The Panthers missed 36% of their free throws against the Racers.
It’s going to take a team effort to defeat Gardner-Webb just like it was against Murray State. Brandin Cummings will need to provide a spark off the bench once again, but eyes turn to Ishmael Leggett and Jaland Lowe to score the way they have in each of the first two games.