Pitt men fail to overcome slow start, suffer upset loss to Quinnipiac at home

Pitt stumbled Thursday in Daytona Beach, Fla., falling to UCF in the Legends Classic.

But that double-digit defeat did not complete the Panthers’ participation in the invitational, as they returned to Petersen Events Center on Sunday to host Quinnipiac, back-to-back regular-season Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference champions.

A slow start by Pitt and hot shooting by the Bobcats, particularly from deep, proved too much for the Panthers to overcome as Quinnipiac pulled off an 83-75 upset.

Pitt (4-3) trailed by 10 at halftime but rallied in the second half to tie the score at 51 with about 14 minutes to play.

However, Quinnipiac’s outside shooting helped fight off Pitt to rally.

With just under four minutes remaining, the Bobcats were ahead 77-64.

Pitt came within eight points with 1:09 to play, but at that point, the clock was the enemy and the Panthers stared down an 81-73 deficit.

Quinnipiac shot 57.1% from the floor, including 64.7% from deep.

Pitt was 44.3% (27 of 61) from the floor and 32.1% (9 of 28) from 3-point range.

Roman Siulepa led the Panthers with a career-high 20 points, along with eight rebounds.

Barry Dunning Jr. added 17 points, Nojus Indrusaitis scored 14 and Cam Corhen added 13.

Quinnipiac’s Amarri Monroe led all scorers with 25 points.

Pitt guard Brandin Cummings did not play due to injury.

The Panthers and Bobcats mustered a combined 10 points through the game’s first four minutes, with Pitt holding a 6-4 advantage at the 16-minute mark.

But about four minutes later, a 7-0 Quinnipiac run put the Bobcats ahead 15-12 at the under-12 media timeout.

With 8:58 to go before halftime, a slick baseline jumper by Monroe made it 21-14 in favor of the Bobcats.

Moments later, Monroe drained a 3-pointer and a frustrated Jeff Capel called timeout, his team now trailing 24-14.

Pitt’s turnover woes continued and the Bobcats stayed hot from the floor, as Quinnipiac maintained a 32-20 advantage at the 6:26 mark courtesy of a dunk by Grant Randall.

A Dunning driving dunk and ensuing made free throw 35 seconds later trimmed Pitt’s deficit to 32-25.

With 5:01 to go before halftime, it was Bobcats coach Tom Pecora’s turn to call a timeout, as Pitt crept within 32-29 via a 9-0 run, with Corhen drilling a 3-pointer from atop the key.

Tai Turnage hit a 3-pointer on Quinnipiac’s next possession, and another 3 at the 1:56 mark by Randall increased Pitt’s deficit to 43-33.

A Damarco Minor 3 marked Pitt’s final possession of the opening half, but Randall snuck in a backdoor layup in the closing seconds to hand the Bobcats a 47-37 halftime lead.

Siulepa led Pitt with 12 first-half points, along with six boards.

After an early Dunning 3-pointer in the second half, Siulepa powered Pitt back into the game with an emphatic fastbreak dunk and a layup after snagging a rebound in the defensive zone.

With 15:05 to play, Pitt was down 51-47.

With 14:26 to go, Pitt had tied it at 51 after a Siulepa bucket and a second-chance layup from Dunning, who rebounded a missed free throw from his teammate for two points.

At the under-12 timeout, Quinnipiac led 55-53.

True freshman Macari Moore had a nice play with a bit under 10 to play, stealing the ball from Asim Jones to hit a layup, making it 57-55 Bobcats.

Quinnipiac inched ahead to a six-point lead with 8:18 to go, but a Dunning 3-pointer 22 seconds later trimmed the Bobcats’ lead to 62-58.

As the clock ticked to under six minutes, Pitt and Quinnipiac traded 3s, with the Bobcats maintaining a 70-64 lead with 5:21 to play.

From there, things deteriorated for Pitt, as the Bobcats continued to hits 3s.

With three minutes to play, Quinnipiac led 77-64, riding a 13-3 run and hitting five straight field goals.

The Bobcats kept Pitt at bay by continuing to hit their shots, although the Panthers threatened with a minute left, coming within 81-73 on a Indrusaitis layup.