Pittsburgh used a game-winning 3-pointer by Zack Austin in overtime Friday at Ohio State to vault from unranked to No. 18 in this week’s Associated Press Top 25.
Sporting their highest ranking in 11 seasons, the Panthers (7-1) will play their first game as a ranked team this season on Wednesday night in the SEC/ACC Challenge against Mississippi State in Starkville, Miss.
Pitt has built a solid non-conference resume that will help it get into the NCAA Tournament as long as it doesn’t crater in the ACC. It boasts Quad 1 wins over West Virginia — which just beat Gonzaga and Arizona in the Battle for Atlantis tournament — and Ohio State.
Friday’s win came in part because Pitt coach Jeff Capel opted not to use his final timeout after Devin Royal’s foul shot put the Buckeyes ahead 90-88 with 6.6 seconds left. Capel trusted Jaland Lowe to drive and make a decision.
“We thought Jaland could get to the basket, but we knew he’d have a lot of attention on him,” Capel said. “For him to trust (Austin) and make that pitch — and Zack stepped into that shot and made a big-time shot.”
Lowe’s impact Friday came primarily via shooting as he scored a career-high 28 points, although he did add four assists, including the final one.
Shortly after hitting his game-winning shot, Austin issued a proclamation.
“Pitt is back,” he said.
The metrics would agree. The first NET rankings came out Monday, and the Panthers are fifth. They’re also ranked 13th in the kenpom.com metrics.
Prolific backcourt scoring is driving Pitt. Ishmael Leggett averages 18.4 points per game and is shooting 53.3 percent from the field, while Lowe is adding 16.6 points, 5.6 rebounds and 5.5 assists.
While the Panthers are tasting rare Top 25 air, Mississippi State (6-1) fell out of the poll after an 87-77 defeat Friday night to Butler in Tempe, Ariz. Defense was the major problem in the battle of Bulldogs as Mississippi State allowed Butler to shoot 52.8 percent from the field, including 12 of 22 on 3-pointers.
Mississippi State coach Chris Jans, whose teams traditionally lock down opponents, was disappointed in the Bulldogs’ performance on that end of the court.
“We gave them a lot of good looks to get to the basket,” he said. “We struggled guarding the basketball. We had multiple guys that just weren’t in the right spot defensively. All game long, we were just really frustrated with our defensive effort.”
Wasted in the loss were solid offensive efforts by Josh Hubbard and Florida transfer Riley Kugel. Both scored 22 points. Hubbard averages 19.1 points per game and is hitting 47.4 percent of his shots from the floor while Kugel is averaging 10 points per contest.
Jans is forecasting an impassioned performance by his team in front of its home crowd Wednesday.
“We’re going to be riled up, lathered up,” he said. “Pitt is a really good basketball team.”
The Panthers won the only previous meeting of the teams 60-59 at the NCAA Tournament’s First Four in 2023 in Dayton, Ohio.
