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Pitt Basketball: Panthers fall in overtime to Montana, 83-78

By Tristan Freeman

CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA - MARCH 04: Head coach Kevin Stallings of the Pittsburgh Panthers walks off the court during Pittsburgh's game against the Virginia Cavaliers at John Paul Jones Arena on March 4, 2017 in Charlottesville, Virginia. (Photo by Chet Strange/Getty Images)
CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA - MARCH 04: Head coach Kevin Stallings of the Pittsburgh Panthers walks off the court during Pittsburgh's game against the Virginia Cavaliers at John Paul Jones Arena on March 4, 2017 in Charlottesville, Virginia. (Photo by Chet Strange/Getty Images) /
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When the game went into overtime, few to none Pitt basketball fans believed that they would win the game. In the end, the team proved them right.

Coming into the season, it was expected to be a rough year for Pittsburgh. for myself and many other Pitt fans, it’s amazing in the worst kind of way to actually go through it. Losing to Navy was one thing. This was a completely new roster that hadn’t played together in a competitive game. It was a home game for the Midshipmen and there was karma with Navy for the game being played alongside Veteran’s Day. Yet, there is no excuse for this one.

This was a home game against an average team from the Big Sky in Montana. From the opening tip, though, it was clear that fans were going to be in for a long night.

It was surreal to see the Grizzlies basically match the Panthers in every aspect of the game and Pitt never separated themselves from a team they’ve dominated historically. Ryan Luther had a chance to win the game in regulation but couldn’t get his shot to fall.

Once overtime got underway, it was Montana who gained the slight edge. Ahmaad Rorie had six of his 17 points in the extra period to lead the way down the stretch. Pittsburgh missed their last few shots and the Grizzlies made some free throws to win 83-78. Bobby Moorehead contributed with 14 points on 3/5 field goals from distance for Montana, but the star of the game was Michael Oguine, who scored a career-high 29 points and looked better than any Panther on the court.

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    • The same players who played well for Pittsburgh in the Navy game continued with Luther leading the way with 18 and 11 before fouling out in the end. Jared Wilson-Frame had 15 on 5-for-10 shooting. After getting ejected in the last game with an unnecessary shove to a Midshipmen, Shamiel Stevenson responded off the bench with 19 points.

    While Marcus Carr’s 1-for-9 shooting was troublesome, the reason Pittsburgh lost was due to their 19 turnovers. Montana took advantage of the miscues to the tune of 30 points off of turnovers. It’s a good thing that no one was around to see this one.

    I don’t want to keep harping on this, but freshman Parker Stewart played 27 minutes and just had one field goal. At 1-for-10 from three, eventually, something will have to change. Lafayette graduate transfer Monty Boykins didn’t play in this game.

    The official attendance was just over 3,000, which is 1,500 less than the previous low of last season’s home game against Gardner Webb. Complete sadness has already started for Pitt fans and season is just two games in.

    Next: 68 reasons to be excited about the college basketball season

    The suffering continues later this week against UC-Santa Barbara. The Gauchos won just six games last season but new head coach Joe Pasternack has completely reshaped the roster and will be much more competitive. Of course, they’ll be taking on a Pitt team that quite honestly, I wouldn’t pick to win the Big West. It’s that bad folks.

    Pittsburgh next game: Wednesday, Nov. 15 – UC-Santa Barbara (H)

    Montana next game: Wednesday, Nov. 15 – Penn State (A)

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