Pitt basketball returned home at the Petersen Events Center for one of its last two non-conference matchups against Eastern Kentucky. Brandin “Beebah” Cummings set a career-high of 30 points as Panthers came out on top by a score of 96-56.
Pitt started very sloppy by missing its first five shots of the game. This allowed the Colonels to settle in early and gain confidence as major underdogs. The Panthers took over five minutes to record their first lead as Cummings scored the first 12 points for Pitt. Both teams traded points the rest of the half, and a pair of late free throws from Zack Austin sent the Panthers into the break with a 39-36 lead.
The Panthers played the second half the way the entire game should have been played. Pitt was the much better team on both ends of the floor, going on an impressive 23-2 run in a stretch of play that lasted over five minutes. This game quickly blew wide open as the Panthers comfortably defeated Eastern Kentucky 96-56.
Takeaway #1: Beebah provided the spark off of the bench
As mentioned above, Cummings was the sole reason Eastern Kentucky didn’t run away with the game in the first 10 minutes of the first half. He entered the game much earlier than Jeff Capel probably anticipated using him with Jaland Lowe picking up two early fouls. However, Capel had full confidence in his freshman point guard.
“Me and Jaland are really close,” said Cummings. “I mean, we live with together, so I see him every day and talk to him every day. This is exactly what he would want to me to go out there and do. My job on the team is to be the backup point guard. I think we have the best point guard in the country, so he knows I’m prepared at any moment to go out there and do what he does.”
“Beebah has been confident since the first time I saw him,” said Capel. “He’s a really, really confident kid, and the confidence comes, I think, because of the work.”
Everyone around the Pitt basketball program knows just how special Beebah is as a player. His early legacy with the Panthers certainly grew with tonight’s performance. He scored a total of 17 points in the first half and then added 13 points in the final 20 minutes. It led to multiple “Beebah” chants and a standing ovation after he was subbed out for the last time with just under two minutes to play. The cherry on top though was his family being in attendance and his brother, Nelly, serving as the analyst on the TV broadcast.
“To have him [Nelly] there, it was a great feeling,” said Cummings. “But to also have my family there supporting me, it’s just something that I’ve obviously dreamed of as a kid. I’ve always wanted to come to this school, play in this arena and it just made feel really at home.”
The Panthers have gone used Austin in Damian Dunn’s spot in the starting lineup over the last two games. If Cummings continues to have this big of an impact, he can certainly force Capel to have a tough decision to make with his starting lineup.
Takeaway #2: Guards kept the first half close for Eastern Kentucky
George Kimble III has been at the forefront of the Colonels’ offense for most of the season as he came into Wednesday night as the second-highest scorer for EKU. The Panthers knew he was going to be someone they had to stop, and it happened very minimally.
However, he wasn’t the only guard for the Colonels to step up. Jordan Crawford was right there with Kimble scoring points with ease. Both players had success in the perimeter and behind the arc which gave the Panthers some problems defensively. This duo accounted for 67% of Eastern Kentucky’s points in the first half.
One player who didn’t have the impact he was expected to half for EKU was Devontae Blanton. He scored just 11 points tonight which is an off-night by his standards. Austin was a big reason for that.
“Blanton’s over a 50% shooter from the floor and averaging about 16 points per game,” said Capel. “For Zack, who was the primary defender, but then at times we switched with Cam, for those guys to hold to 5-17 and 11 points was as big as anything that happened today.”
“It’s a lot of pride,” said Austin. “Shoutout to them [his teammates] for pushing me everyday to be the defender they want me to be, and I just try to go out there and do my best.”
Pitt basketball has played in a few games this season where multiple players from the opposition have success shooting the ball. Even with being kept in check after the intermission, credit to Kimble and Crawford for making things tough in the opening 20 minutes.
Takeaway #3: Panthers step up big in the second half
Turning over the basketball loses games, and they almost earned Pitt basketball the title of being Jon Rothstein’s next victim as “the epitome of brutality.” The Panthers gave away possession seven times in the first 20 minutes, a number Capel knows has to shrink as soon as possible.
The rate at which Pitt basketball gave away the ball declined in the second half which is certainly a step in the right direction. It’s a sign of the right adjustments being made at halftime whether they are adjustments made by the coaching staff or the players themselves.
“I thought the second-half performance of our team was outstanding for the first, I think, 12 minutes,” said Capel. I think they had 10 points [in those 12 minutes], so we did a really good job defensively.”
In the second frame, the Panthers gave away the ball just three times. That difference was certainly noticeable on the scoreboard with Pitt basketball netting 57 of 77 points after halftime. It allowed the team to be in better scoring positions and minimize the quality chances for Eastern Kentucky.
While the dominance of the second half was impressive to watch, the Panthers know this is the level they need to bring all game long.
Next up for Pitt (9-2): vs Sam Houston (5-5) – Dec. 21 at 1 p.m. EST
Next up for Eastern Kentucky (5-5): vs Eastern Illinois (3-6) – Dec. 14 at 8 p.m. EST
[…] to go after having 10 days between games. The Panthers haven’t played since Dec. 11 in the win over Eastern Kentucky. Pitt rallied behind freshman Brandin Cummings in what could simply be called “the Beebah […]