Pitt brings 'urgency' into ACC clash with Florida State

Field Level Media|published: Tue 14th January, 21:07 2025

Jan 7, 2025; Durham, North Carolina, USA; Pittsburgh Panthers guard Jaland Lowe (15) drives to the basket as Duke Blue Devils forward Cooper Flagg (2) defends during the first half at Cameron Indoor Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Rob Kinnan-Imagn Images

Florida State and Pittsburgh will aim to halt their respective slides down the Atlantic Coast Conference standings when they square off on Wednesday night in Tallahassee, Fla.

The host Seminoles (11-5, 2-3) are coming off Saturday's 77-57 loss at Clemson and are seeking their first win in six tries this season against a Quad 1 or Quad 2 opponent.

Wednesday marks the first of back-to-back home games for Florida State, which entered Tuesday tied for ninth in the ACC.

Meanwhile, the Panthers (12-4, 3-2) have lost to straight to then-No. 4 Duke and Louisville and are tied for sixth in the conference.

"There is a sense of urgency," Pitt coach Jeff Capel said earlier this week. "We don't sweep it under the rug."

The Panthers, who are ranked No. 27 in the NCAA's NET rankings, would notch a Quad 1 win with a victory on Wednesday, but that may not happen if they don't improve on the glass.

Pitt was outrebounded 44-31 by Louisville on Saturday and surrendered 17 offensive boards in the 82-78 home loss.

Cameron Corhen leads the Panthers with 5.8 rebounds per game, while Guillermo Diaz Graham (5.7 rpg) and guard Ishmael Leggett (5.6) can also crash the glass.

Jaland Lowe paces Pitt's quartet of double-digit scorers with 17.2 points per game and had 24 on Saturday.

The Seminoles' top rebounder is Malique Ewin, who averages 7.6 per game to complement his 13.8 scoring average. The forward has logged two straight double-doubles and has three in his last five games.

"Malique brings a different skill set to our team that we have not been accustomed to having with our center," Florida State coach Leonard Hamilton said. "He's an extremely good ball handler and passer. He makes great decisions with the ball."

Besides Ewin, Jamir Watkins has provided most of the scoring punch for the Seminoles, averaging 18.2 points per game. The issue has been finding consistent scoring from other sources, as no other player averages more than 8.9 points.

The Panthers entered Tuesday with this ACC's third-best scoring offense (81.4 ppg) and could exploit a Florida State perimeter defense that allowed Clemson to hit 13 3-pointers on Saturday.

--Field Level Media

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