Pitt sophomore guard Brandin Cummings will miss the remainder of the season after undergoing ankle surgery, the Panthers announced Thursday.
The team’s leading scorer at 12.5 points per game won’t be available for the Panthers’ five remaining contests and the ACC Tournament, should Pitt qualify.
Through 19 games, Cummings shot 42.4% from the field (32.6% from 3-point range) with 39 assists and 14 steals.
Last week, coach Jeff Capel relayed that Cummings was seeing an ankle specialist with his father and could miss the rest of the year.
The 6-foot-3 Lincoln Park alum last played Jan. 31 against Clemson. At the time of Pitt’s announcement, he had been forced to miss seven games because of his lingering ankle ailment.
When he was healthy, Capel opted to rotate Cummings between the starting lineup and bench.
In the latter role, Cummings has enjoyed the most success over parts of two campaigns at Pitt.
He scored a career-high 34 points off the bench Dec. 7 against Hofstra, which shattered the record for most points by a non-starting Panthers player.
Cummings later scored 29 against Syracuse on Jan. 10 and 23 vs. Georgia Tech four days later, coming off the bench in both contests.
Through nine starts, the most points Cummings produced in a single game was 19 on Nov. 7 against Longwood.
Last season as a true freshman, Cummings scored 30 points off the bench against Eastern Kentucky.
Cummings’ injury handicaps an already short-handed Panthers rotation even further and likely will translate to additional minutes for true freshman guards Omari Witherspoon and Macari Moore.
On top of Cummings, Capel has been without projected starting center Dishon Jackson, who was ruled out indefinitely during the preseason because of an undisclosed medical condition.
Forward Papa Amadou Kante underwent season-ending knee surgery in early January, while forward Amdy Ndiaye departed the program at the same time.
Pitt (9-17, 2-11 ACC) hosts Notre Dame (12-14, 3-10) on Saturday at Petersen Events Center.
