Pitt adds game vs. Northern Illinois on Saturday at the Pete

Jeff Capel wanted to enter the ACC portion of Pitt’s schedule with more than four nonconference games behind him.

He made it happen Tuesday by adding No. 5.

Pitt will play Northern Illinois of the MAC at 7 p.m. Saturday at Petersen Events Center.

Northern Illinois (0-1) suffered a tough loss in its opener Nov. 25. NIU built a 40-18 lead three minutes into the second half against Illinois-Chicago before losing 65-61.

Guards Tyler Cochran, Darius Beane and Trendon Hankerson led NIU with 13, 13 and 10 points, respectively.

The game will be the second official meeting between Pitt and Northern Illinois. The Panthers won last season 59-50, holding the Huskies to 20 points and 30.3 percent shooting (9 of 30) from the field in the second half.

Northern Illinois ended up sharing first place in the MAC’s West Division with Ball State, finishing 18-13, 11-7 in the conference.

The only other time Pitt and Northern Illinois got together in basketball was March 30, 1934, when they played a 20-minute scrimmage at the National Coaches Convention in Atlanta. Pitt won 24-13.

Pitt opened this season by losing to St. Francis (Pa.), 80-70, and then defeated Drexel, 83-74. Pitt will play at Northwestern in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge on Dec. 9 and Gardner-Webb at home Dec 12.

Junior Au’Diese Toney is Pitt’s leading scorer, recording back-to-back 20-point games while shooting 68 percent, with 11 rebounds, seven assists and four steals. Xavier Johnson has scored 36 points with 11 rebounds and 18 assists, and Justin Champagnie has 31 points and 14 rebounds.

Pitt’s first ACC game is Dec. 16 at Miami.

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