The good news for Pittsburgh Basketball is that Florida State has a top-75 NET ranking, making them a Quad 1 road game last night. The bad news is that it still was a tough game, as Pittsburgh struggled offensively all game. It was a 28-23 halftime deficit for the Panthers before trailing by as many as 16 points in the second half.
Pittsburgh did make it a close game with a couple of minutes left, but in the end, the Seminoles won 82-70 to give the Panthers its third straight loss to move to 3-3 in ACC play. Here are the takeaways from the latest setback.
1. Turnovers proved costly
One concern I had heading into the game was how the Panthers would handle FSU’s size and length throughout the game. It wasn’t good, as the team had 14 first-half turnovers and went 7/19 via layup or dunks. The 17 turnovers on the game was a season-high for the team and while they made up for it at the line, it was a key problem for them all night long.
2. Cam Corhen’s revenge game struggles
Playing against your opponent can bring out the best in you, but that wasn’t the case for former Seminole Corhen, who had just two points in 26 minutes, along with nine rebounds. The opposing FSU center outplayed him, Malique Ewin, who produced 18 points and 13 rebounds. Considering that the Panthers’ backcourt struggled overall, Corhen not giving them anything inside doubled the issues.
3. Jorge Diaz-Graham’s efforts to keep the game close
Jaland Lowe finished with 22 points, all in the second half, to lead Pitt. However, the team’s MVP was Jorge, who had a season-high 17 points in 18 minutes off the bench, making 4/5 from three-point range. His brother, Guillermo, started but had just two points in eight minutes.
Jorge was at the end of the rotation and playing limited minutes throughout the year, but he’s been elite from deep, making 16/26 (62%) on the season. He’s earned more minutes as of late, and we’ll see what happens when he and Pitt take on Clemson, now a must-win game, this weekend.