Pitt basketball claws out of early hole, fights off Providence's rally in exhibition victory

Jeff Capel’s retooled Panthers got their first opportunity of the season to square up against hostile competition Sunday, as Pitt hosted Providence for an exhibition at Petersen Events Center.

Exemplifying the turnover from a year ago were three new starters — Barry Dunning Jr., Damarco Minor and Roman Siulepa — who took the floor against the Friars of the Big East Conference, joined by returners Cam Corhen and Brandin Cummings.

Pitt trailed by as many as 12 early, led by double digits at halftime and fought off a Providence rally in the second half to win 81-74.

Minor led the Panthers with 15 points on 4-of-8 shooting, and four other Pitt players scored in double digits.

“I thought we did some really good things,” Capel said. “It was great to be in this situation. To score 81 points, to do it in a somewhat efficient manner for the game — really pleased with that.

“I said we’re a work in progress. We are, but it was great to have this experience in front of some people and to play against another team.”

Cummings had 12 points, Nojus Indrusaitis finished with 11 and Corhen and Omari Witherspoon added 10 apiece.

As a team, the Panthers shot 47.4% (27 of 57) from the floor but only 20% (3 of 15) from 3-point range. The Friars held the edge on the glass, outrebounding Pitt, 43-38.

Providence jumped to an early 16-6 lead by the first media timeout thanks to a barrage of 3s.

Indrusaitis, an Iowa State transfer, trimmed Providence’s lead to 18-10 with 12 minutes to play in the first half.

Pitt’s defense stiffened as the midway point of the opening half approached, and the Panthers got within six courtesy of a Cummings layup.

Siulepa, Pitt’s Australian freshman forward who only arrived on campus from Brisbane about a month ago, made his presence known early with a dunk on a feed from Corhen.

He later cut the deficit to 22-18 with a free throw at the 8:07 mark and finished with six points and four rebounds.

Freshman Macari Moore hit Pitt’s first 3-pointer of the afternoon soon thereafter, trimming Providence’s lead to a point and prompting a timeout by Friars coach Kim English.

Capel was pleased with how Pitt responded to the early deficit.

“I thought it was an unbelievable and a great game situation to be in,” he said.

Minor struck a similar tone.

“It’s life,” he said. “Life ain’t going to be peaches and cream. You’re going to hit a bump, and that’s what your character is built on.”

A pair of free throws by Corhen then tied the score before Indrusaitis and Minor hit 3s to put Pitt in front 29-25 with just over five minutes left in the half.

Momentum continued to favor the Panthers in the final minutes of the first half, as back-to-back baskets from Papa Amadou Kante followed by a fastbreak layup from Minor gave Pitt a 37-29 lead with 1:42 on the clock.

Pitt headed into halftime ahead 41-31. Minor led the way with nine first-half points, followed by Cummings’ eight.

To begin the second half, Capel went with a slightly different starting five, inserting Witherspoon and Indrusaitis with Siulepa, Corhen and Minor. Capel said his starting lineup remains in flux.

“Everyone has to be ready for whatever role they’re in,” Capel said. “We’re still figuring that out. We don’t know yet.”

Within three minutes of the second half, Pitt’s lead was 48-34, as Witherspoon hit a layup, pull-up jumper and another basket in quick succession after stealing the ball from Providence’s Jaylin Sellers.

Pitt stayed ahead as the under-12 media timeout of the final half approached, but the Friars trimmed the deficit to single digits with about 13 minutes to play, as Stefan Vaaks converted a three-point play, making the score 52-44.

Pitt’s lead dwindled to five at the 10:27 mark via a Jamier Jones dunk in transition.

But Corhen responded with an emphatic dunk of his own 47 seconds later for his ninth and 10th points of the afternoon.

With 6:22 to play, a 3-pointer by Duncan Powell got Providence within 62-59.

A three-point play by Minor followed by a Dunning tip-in gave Pitt some breathing room and a 69-62 lead with 4:20 left.

As time wound down, Pitt used a three-point play and two free throws by Indrusaitis plus a Cummings-to-Kante alley-oop to go up 75-64 with a bit over two minutes to go.

From there, Pitt fought off some late Friars 3-pointers to hang on and pull out a win.

“I’m still trying to figure our team out, but I like the pieces that we have,” Capel said. “We’ve just got to keep working at it.”