Pitt Bounces Back, Beats Louisville for First ACC Win 83-70

On Saturday afternoon, Pitt (10-5, 1-3 ACC) won its first ACC game of the season, taking down the Louisville Cardinals in a lopsided affair, 83-70.

The story of the first half was Pitt’s Zack Austin, who scored ten of the team’s first 18 points on a 4-for-7 start from the field. As Austin and the Panthers got off to a hot start, Louisville struggled, turning the ball over and failing to find open looks. Pitt built up a lead behind Austin, as well as ten first-half points from Blake Hinson, who hit three of his six attempts in the frame.

As guard Ishmael Leggett missed the game due to a shoulder injury suffered against Syracuse, Jaland Lowe earned his first start of his college career and calmly hit two of his four shots in the first half. Along with fellow freshman guard Bub Carrington, Lowe took advantage of the Cardinals from the start, combining with Carrington for 13 points, seven rebounds, and four assists in the half.

Skyy Clark, the Cardinals’ leading scorer, could not buy a bucket, failing to score throughout the entire half. However, the Cardinals battled back throughout the frame behind a strong 5-for-6 shooting half from Mike James, as well as seven other points from Curtis Williams.

At the break, the Panthers led 40-34, going 100% from the free-throw line and scoring 11 points off of Louisville’s early turnovers. The Panthers turned the ball over seven times themselves in the first half, and also allowed Louisville to shoot the ball well. The Cardinals shot 54% from the field in the first frame, and 44% from three.

Pitt opened the second-half with a quick 5-0 run, and Austin was once again right in the middle of everything. After slamming home a half-opening dunk, he then found Guillermo Diaz-Graham inside for an and-one layup, extending Pitt’s lead up to 11.

Louisville turned the ball over for the 15th time with more than 13 minutes to play. The Cardinals looked all but out of this one, trailing by 11. However, James continued his unbelievable shooting night, hitting three-straight threes to cut Pitt’s lead down to seven. Shortly after, Austin answered for the Panthers, hitting his third three and extending the lead back up to ten.

With 8:32 to play, Blake Hinson hit his second three of the second half, extending Pitt’s lead up to a game-high 17 over the Cardinals. Hinson, after struggling to hit shots the past few games, once again found his rhythm and was leading the Panthers in scoring. Down the stretch, Pitt continued its strong play behind Hinson, Austin, and Carrington, while Lowe and both Diaz-Graham twins also found success on the offensive end.

Guillermo delivered the highlight of the game with less than four minutes to play, slamming down a tomahawk dunk to extend Pitt’s lead to 18.