Penn State is coming off two defeats of very different natures and will certainly be hungry for a win Sunday when it takes on Pitt in Hershey, Pa.
The Nittany Lions (8-3) will show up at the neutral site following losses in each of their first two Big Ten contests. The first setback was a 41-point pounding at the hands of Indiana, while the second was a hard-fought 76-72 loss to No. 9 Michigan State.
Four days after the embarrassing defeat to the Hoosiers, the Nittany Lions took the talented Spartans down to the wire. Penn State led with five minutes remaining before ultimately falling short, despite 23 points from Freddie Dilione V.
“It was a great battle. They just had a little more poise down the stretch than we did, made a couple more plays than we did, and finished,” Nittany Lions coach Mike Rhoades said.
Meanwhile, Pitt (6-6) broke out of a 1-5 stretch with a resounding 103-63 win over Binghamton on Wednesday. Barry Dunning Jr. scored 23 points on 7-of-9 shooting, while Brandin Cummings added 17 points for the Panthers.
Pitt shot a blistering 62 percent from the field, including 16-of-27 from 3-point range. Dunning led the way with five 3-pointers, while Cummings and Nojus Indrusaitis (16 points) each made three 3-pointers in a shooting performance that the Panthers will certainly aim to replicate Sunday.
“Making shots masks some things,” said Pitt coach Jeff Capel. “It makes everything look better, and we made a lot of shots.”
The Panthers are trying to win back-to-back games for the first time since their 3-0 start to the season. They certainly could use more out of leading scorer and rebounder Cameron Corhen (13.7 points, 8.7 boards), who is averaging 10.3 points and 6.3 rebounds in the last three games.
The teams have not met since 2017.
“Regional matchups, old-school traditions and rivalry matchups — we should always play them, in my opinion,” Rhoades said. “Especially in basketball, when you play 31 games. We should have those.”
–Field Level Media
