Pittsburgh Basketball: 3 takeaways from exhibition win over Point Park

Pittsburgh Basketball is the latest program to play an exhibition game, taking in D-II local foe, Point Park. But as they showed against RMU in a near-upset a year ago, Point Park wasn't going to be an easy out. A combination of threes and tough shots made it a 50-42 halftime lead for Pitt.

In the second half, the Panthers' gave up just one three-pointer and the offense rolled to a 93-62 victory. There were plenty to take away from the game, both good and concerning. Here are five takeaways from the game.

Leggett-Lowe backcourt duo

Coming into the season, there were high expectations for the starting backcourt for Pittsburgh. Ishmael Leggett is the returning leading scorer and preseason second-team All-ACC player, while Jaland Lowe is a consensus breakout candidate. Both players had big outings, with Lowe finishing with 22 pts on 7/13 FG, while Leggett led the team with 24 pts (8/9 FG), nine rebounds, and five assists.

Leggett was the ACC 6th Man of the Year and is primed to be the go-to guy on offense. He also proved to be the lead facilitator. We'll see if that works out once the season outs but these two will be good enough to keep Pittsburgh in most games.

Cam Corhen's bounce-back second half

Corhen had a rough start to the game, starting out 1/5 from the field and getting blocked a couple of times. After the first few minutes, he didn't shoot again in the first half. However, the Panthers returned to him to start out the second, with Corhen getting touches in the middle instead of on the side. It worked, with the former FSU center scoring 12 second-half points to finish with 14 pts and 11 rebounds. The Panthers hope that Corhen gives them a consistent post presence inside and in the final 20 minutes, he did that.

3-spot's lack of impact

While the backcourt and center positions scored in double-figures, the one disappointing area was one the wings, occupied by Zack Austin and Houston transfer Damian Dunn. They combined for 10 points on 5/12 shooting in 20 minutes each. On one hand, they could've played second fiddle to Lowe and Leggett when they were going but those two won't score 20+ in every game this season. Pittsburgh will need more production out of that spot and it could come with freshman wing Amsal Delalic, who could make his debut during the first week of the season.

Brandin Cummings the backup PG

It was expected that the freshman ball-handler would be part of the rotation but it was confirmed when Cummings was one of the first players off the bench in the first half. He played 17 minutes, scoring eight points on 3/8 shooting and dishing out two assists. He also was a good defender and showed that he can get minutes whenever Lowe or Leggett comes out of the game.

Papa Kante's fouls and a 3

Through most of the first half, the Pittsburgh rotation looked to be right guys, with Jorge Diaz-Graham the first big off the bench, with Guillermo Diaz-Graham sliding over to the five-spot to play with his brother. Kante, a former top-100 prospect who missed all of last season with a knee injury, didn't get in until the final few minutes of the half.

On the birghtside, he blocked a shot that turned into an alley-oop on the other end. However, Kante picked up two fouls in two minutes. He made a nice three toward the end of the game as well and showed long-term potential. If he can stay on the court, the Panthers should have plenty of depth, both inside and out.