The Pitt men’s basketball team appeared ready Tuesday night to emerge from the other side of the enormous hole they had dug themselves with surprising losses during their nonconference schedule.
The Watsco Center isn’t a place, however, where the Panthers have ever been able to get themselves right.
Pitt led by 10 points at halftime of its ACC opener with Miami but struggled to attack the Hurricanes’ zone in the second half during a 76-69 defeat.
Pitt fell to 1-6 all-time at the Watsco Center. The Panthers (7-7, 0-1) entered the contest with momentum after a pair of wins by 34 points or more.
Miami (12-2, 1-0) had an answer for everything Pitt threw at them. The Hurricanes shot well from the free-throw line, shooting 76.9% (20 of 26), and got timely shots in big spots.
Tre Donaldson beat the shot clock with an important 3-pointer with 4 minutes, 9 seconds remaining to give the Hurricanes a 67-63 lead and enough separation to hold on for the win. Donaldson finished with 17 points.
Malik Reneau was 10 for 10 from the free-throw line and scored a season-high 28 points for Miami.
Pitt shot 53% from the field in the first half — going on a 20-0 run at one point — and leveraged that into a 43-33 lead. Panthers guard Barry Dunning Jr., who has reached double figures in nine of the past 10 games, scored 12 of his 16 points in the first half.
Cam Corhen led Pitt with 15 points, and Damarco Minor (14 points) and Roman Siulepa (10) also finished in double figures.
The Panthers’ effectiveness on offense dried up to start the second half.
Miami (12-2) opened with a 13-2 run after halftime to surge to a 46-45 advantage.
The Panthers were able to find their footing in the second half and led 60-56 with 8:01 remaining on a jumper by Brandin Cummings.
However, the Hurricanes responded by scoring eight consecutive points to take control.
Reneau scored on a layup with 5:57 remaining to give Miami the lead for good.
The Hurricanes weren’t able to bully the Panthers, who were 9.5-point underdogs. Pitt scored the first five points of the game, but the Hurricanes battled back to take a 16-15 lead on an 8-foot jumper by Reneau with 12:43 left before halftime.
That was the start of an 11-0 run for Miami, which capped the stretch with a layup from Shelton Henderson.
Miami’s offense then went into the tank. The Hurricanes suffered a scoreless stretch that lasted nearly seven minutes. During that time, Pitt went on its 20-0 run.
Minor’s driving layup with 5:59 remaining in the first half put Pitt ahead 26-25, and the Panthers remained ahead until intermission.
Miami shot 9% (1 of 11) from the 3-point line in the first half.
