In Pitt’s final tuneup before ACC play, the Panthers used some suffocating defense and a balanced scoring attack to defeat Colgate by a score of 68-54. Pitt limited Colgate’s leading scorer Jordan Burns to just 7 points on 3-11 shooting. He had entered the game averaging 17 points per game. Burns also finished with three turnovers and was in foul trouble throughout much of the night.

Overall Pitt forced 16 turnovers from the Raiders as they shot just 30% overall from the field. With the win, Pitt is now 10-3 and will begin conference play next week when 14th-ranked North Carolina, led by former Panther Cameron Johnson, pays a visit to the Petersen Events Center on Saturday in what is expected to be the first sellout crowd of the season.

The Panthers appeared sluggish at first in this one, as Pitt clung to a 26-19 lead with just over five minutes remaining before halftime, but a 16-4 run stretched the lead to 19 points and Colgate was unable to ever really dig into that lead in the second half. The Raiders made a charge, but never got the deficit under 13 points.

Pitt was led by Trey McGowens with 16 points. Xavier Johnson added 11 points, 6 assists, and four rebounds. He has now scored in double-figures all 13 games of his career, but he did leave with an apparent injury with five minutes left in the game.

Jared Wilson-Frame poured in 15 points and grabbed seven boards, while Au’Diese Toney supplied 14 points.

Part of Pitt’s big effort on the defensive side of the ball came from sophomore center Terrell Brown altering shots in the middle. He finished with nine blocked shots and added 10 points and five rebounds in 27 minutes of game action. His strong play earned him the start in the second half.

Pitt’s rotation remained limited with Sidy N’dir still out nursing an injury. Jeff Capel primarily used an 8-man rotation with Khameron Davis, Malik Ellison, and Brown absorbing the majority of the minutes off the bench.

Pitt now begins a new challenge: the ACC. As it has been well documented, Pitt went 0-18 in conference play last season, and the schedule once again will be daunting. In addition to starting ACC play with North Carolina next week, Louisville, North Carolina State, and Florida State are all also on the horizon in the coming weeks as it will put Capel’s young team to the test.