Pittsburgh Basketball: WVU, Kansas State highlights 2019-20 non-conference schedule

Pittsburgh Basketball announced their partial 2019-20 schedule Tuesday featuring 11 non-conference games for November and December. The Panthers schedule is highlighted by Kansas State, West Virginia, and Robert Morris in the Colonials brand-new arena.

Pittsburgh Basketball coming off a 14-19 (3-15) under Jeff Capel’s first season as head coach has the fan base excited about what this team can do this season. Pitt announced the non-conference portion of the 2019-20 season’s schedule Tuesday afternoon and there is resume-building potential for the Panthers.

The Panthers will open its season with 10 of 13 games at home. For a team that finished 11-7 at home and 0-11 on the road that’s a refreshing way to start the year. Pitt started the 2018-19 season 10-3 in non-conference action going 9-1 at home, the only loss coming 71-70 to Niagara. On the road versus non-conference opponents in 2018, the Panthers only two losses came from West Virginia (69-59) and then-ranked No. 14 Iowa (69-68).

Pitt opens this season at home with conference opponent Florida State on Nov. 6 then begins non-conference action. Pitt beat then-ranked No. 11 Florida State 75-62 last season at home behind Trey McGowens stellar 30-point night.

Non-conference play begins with another home game versus Nicholls State (Nov. 9) before Pitt plays two meaningful rivalry games. The first will be versus Robert Morris (Nov. 12)  in the Colonials brand-new 4,000-seated arena then West Virginia (Nov. 15) for the 187th edition of the Backyard Brawl.

Robert Morris and Pitt haven’t played since 2011 but the Panthers have dominated all of their meetings going 30-0, including 9-0 at the Petersen Events Center. To the Colonials credit, every game has been played on Pitt’s home floor making this the first away game for the Panthers in the series.

West Virginia and Pitt is always an exciting matchup and features two teams that always play their hearts out versus each other. West Virginia owns the all-time record 98-88 after what could have been the most frustrating game of all-time, not just the series the last time these teams met.

In last seasons matchup, there were a combined 50 turnovers and 49 fouls in the Mountaineers 69-59 win. Pitt was down 39-27 at halftime and could never get enough consistency on offense. The Panthers shot 17 of 54 (31.5%) from the field and 6 of 23 (26.1%) from three in the loss.

Starting Nov. 18 until Nov. 27, Pitt will be in the Rocket Mortgage Fort Myers Tip-Off. Luckily, Pitt will play the first two games of the tournament at the Pete versus Monmouth (Nov. 18) and Arkansas Pine-Bluff (Nov. 22). The last two games of the tip-off will be played at Suncoast Credit Union Arena in Fort Myers, Fla.

The first game of the matchup will be the largest test of the non-conference schedule for Pitt, Kansas State (Nov. 25). The Wildcats made the NCAA Tournament as a No. 4 seed last year and this game will certainly be a resume booster come March if Pitt can get the neutral court win. The Panthers were 3-1 in neutral court games last season.

The final game of the tip-off will be versus Bradley or Northwestern (Nov. 27) in Fort Myers to finish off the first month of the season. Bradley was a No. 15 seed in the NCAA Tournament last season winning the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament beating Missouri State, Loyola, and Northern Iowa by a combined eight points.

December will be kick-started by the ACC-Big Ten Challenge on Pitt’s floor versus Rutgers (Dec. 3). Pitt played In the challenge last season versus Iowa in Iowa City and lost 69-68 in the final seconds after Trey McGowens and Sidy N’Dir attempted game-winning shots.

After Rutgers, Pitt has a 13-day break before playing the last three non-conference games of the season versus Northern Illinois (Dec. 16), Binghamton (Dec. 20) and Canisius (Dec. 30).

One missing opponent from the schedule is neighbor Duquesne. The two postponed their city game rivalry until 2020 when they plan to play then and in 2021 at PPG Paints Arena. Below is the updated schedule for the year with opponents 2018-19 records.

Pitt 2019 Non-Conference Opponents

November 9: Nicholls State (Home)

2018-19 Record: 14-17 overall, 3-13 away

November 12: at Robert Morris (Away)

2018-19 Record: 18-17 overall, 13-4 home

November 15: West Virginia (Home)

2018-19 Record: 15-21 overall, 0-10 away

November 18: Monmouth (Home)

2018-19 Record: 14-21 overall, 5-11 away

November 22: Arkansas Pine Bluff (Home)

2018-19 Record: 13-19 overall, 5-15

November 25: Kansas State (Fort Myers, Florida)

2018-19 Record: 25-9 overall, 4-2 neutral

November 27: Bradley or Northwestern (Fort Myers, Florida)

2018-19 Bradley Record: 20-15 overall, 5-1 neutral

2018-19 Northwestern Record: 13-19 overall, 2-2 neutral

December 3: Rutgers (Home)

2018-19 Record: 14-17 overall, 4-9 away

December 16: Northern Illinois (Home)

2018-19 Record: 17-17 overall, 5-9 away

December 20: Binghamton (Home)

2018-19 Record: 10-23 overall, 5-12 away

December 30: Canisius (Home)

2018-19 Record: 15-17 overall, 9-5 away

Pitt 2019-20 Conference Opponents

November 6: Florida State (Home)

2018-19 Record: 28-9, 6-4 away, 13-5 ACC

Pitt has yet to confirm the dates of the 20-game ACC schedule except for the season-opener, but we know they will play six repeat opponents from 2018-19.

Georgia Tech

2018-19 record: 14-18 overall, 6-12 ACC

Louisville

2018-19 record: 20-14 overall, 10-8 ACC

Miami

2018-19 record: 14-18 overall, 5-13 ACC

North Carolina

2018-19 record: 29-7 overall, 16-2 ACC

Syracuse

2018-19 record: 20-14, 10-8 ACC

We also know to this point Pitt will play Boston College, Clemson, defending national champion Virginia and Wake Forest at home and Duke, N.C. State, Notre Dame and Virginia Tech on the road but those dates are unclear.

ACC Home Games

Boston College

2018-19 record: 14-17 overall, 2-8 away, 5-13 ACC

Clemson

2018-19 record: 20-14 overall, 5-6 away, 9-9 ACC

Virginia

2018-19 record: 35-3 overall, 10-1 away, 16-2 ACC

Wake Forest

2018-19 record: 11-20 overall, 1-10 away, 4-14 ACC

ACC Away Games

Duke

2018-19 record: 32-6 overall, 16-2 home, 14-2 ACC

N.C. State

2018-19 record: 24-12 overall, 17-5 home, 9-9 ACC

Notre Dame

2018-19 record: 14-19 overall, 11-8 home, 3-15 ACC

Virginia Tech

2018-19 record: 26-9 overall, 14-2 home, 12-6 ACC

The rest of Pitt’s schedule is to be released August 22 on the ACC Network along with ESPN.