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The University of Pittsburgh's Daily Student Newspaper

The Pitt News

The University of Pittsburgh's Daily Student Newspaper

The Pitt News

The University of Pittsburgh's Daily Student Newspaper

The Pitt News

Pitt men’s basketball crushed by Cavaliers

Bhaskar Chakrabarti | Staff Photographer
A Virginia basketball player rebounds the basketball against Pitt on Monday Feb. 3, 2025

On Monday night, Pitt men’s basketball (14-8, 5-6 ACC) lost to Virginia (11-12, 4-8 ACC) 73-57. The Panthers’ loss against the Cavaliers marked Pitt’s 13th loss in its last 16 matches with UVA.

Pitt returned home after recently losing 76-74 at Wake Forest and tallied its fifth loss in its last seven games after falling to UVA.

“It was embarrassing, and I’m sorry to the crowd, the students, the fans. It’s my responsibility. I have to do a better job of making sure we’re ready to go,” head coach Jeff Capel said.

Senior guard Ishmael Leggett opened the scoring, but Virginia was quick to respond, almost immediately snatching back the lead. 

Defensively, Virginia stood out and held Pitt to just 57 points, with 25 defensive rebounds in a game where they scored 17 points unreturned early in the game. Sophomore forward Blake Buchanan especially excelled on defense, claiming nine defensive rebounds alongside two blocks.

“We defended well. It starts with the stops. You can’t go on a 17-0 run unless you make the stops and we did that part,” Virginia head coach Ron Sanchez said.

Sloppy mistakes continued to cost the Panthers, as the Cavaliers were continually awarded free throw attempts due to Pitt fouling UVA, letting Virginia get out to a major lead.

Pitt struggled to find the basket, with a first-half field goal percentage of just 30.0% compared to its season average of 46.8%. On the flip side, Virginia achieved a 56.5% field goal percentage, as it quickly built a large lead that the Panthers would have to overcome.

Going into the locker room, Pitt trailed 34-19. Holding Virginia to 4 points in the final four minutes of the half, Pitt clawed the difference back from 20 points behind to keep itself in the game. 

Sophomore guard Jaland Lowe struggled to impact the first half, scoring just 5 points. So often the star for Pittsburgh, Lowe looked like a shadow of his regular self, shooting a 33.3% field goal percentage for the night.

“[Lowe has] got to play better. Period. If you’re a good player, there are expectations, you got to step up to them,” Capel said. 

Pitt came out of the blocks with renewed vigor in the second half, scoring three three-pointers as it tallied 18 points in 10 minutes — 14 more than the Panthers scored in the first 10 minutes of the match.

Despite a stronger start, the Panthers couldn’t catch Virginia, who proceeded to outscore them, stretching its lead all the way out to 21 points. From 3-point range, the Cavaliers were clinical, with a 66.6% 3-point field goal percentage to finish four out of six jumpers from outside the line.

In the final 10 minutes, Virginia kept the Panthers at bay, matching its every stride so that the Panthers could not retain the lead.

Next, the Panthers will travel to Chapel Hill to face North Carolina, just 12 days after toppling the Tar Heels at home. Catch the game Saturday at 4 p.m. on ESPN.