Pitt coach Jeff Capel said earlier this week that the Panthers were getting close to figuring out what kind of basketball team they are.

That remark came on the heels of a 34-point beatdown of Bucknell at Petersen Events Center, Pitt’s first game after getting clobbered at West Virginia.

The new-look Panthers’ next chance to coalesce as a roster came Thursday night in Daytona Beach, Fla., as Pitt took on Central Florida in the Legends Classic.

A 77-67 defeat at Ocean Center is sure to send Capel and his players back to the drawing board.

Pitt (4-2) trailed by two at halftime, but a slow start to the second half put the Panthers in a hole they couldn’t escape.

“You’re coming out in the second half. First four minutes has got to be rock ’em, sock ’em robot, smashmouth basketball,” associate coach Tim O’Toole said on the 93.7 FM postgame show.

“This is a physical basketball team, they’re in the Big 12 and they’re hitting you on every cut. We have got to fight back. To me, that was missing.”

Cam Corhen led the Panthers with 17 points, scoring 15 in the first half. Damarco Minor and Barry Dunning Jr. added 14 apiece.

As a team, Pitt shot 38.9% (21 of 54) from the floor but only 25.9% (7 of 27) from 3-point range. Central Florida hit 52.5% of its baskets.

The Knights handily won the battle on the glass 37-28.

Pitt had trouble with its transition defense to start as UCF (5-1) got several buckets on the fast break, including an alley-oop dunk by Jordan Burks to give his team an 11-6 lead about three minutes in.

A few minutes later, after a pair of free throws by Nojus Indrusaitis, Minor drained a 3-pointer at the 13:20 mark to put Pitt ahead 15-13.

Corhen buoyed the Panthers early, chipping in 10 quick points behind a 5-for-5 start from the field.

A Corhen layup with 10:44 before halftime put Pitt in front 20-18.

With about seven minutes left in the opening half, UCF went up 27-21 on a Riley Kugel layup.

But Dunning, fresh off a 23-point eruption against Bucknell, promptly drilled a 3-pointer, with Papa Amadou Kante adding a bucket shortly thereafter.

At the 6-minute mark, Central Florida was up 27-26.

Some momentum then swung in Pitt’s favor as Dunning was fouled on a 3-point attempt before hitting all of his free throws plus another shot from beyond the arc.

With 3:18 to go, Pitt led 34-29.

But Central Florida was back in front 35-34 with 1:46 remaining as a neck-and-neck first half continued.

Corhen scored his 14th and 15th points of the night from the free-throw line with a minute left, but UCF took a 38-36 lead into the locker room courtesy of a buzzer- beating 3-pointer by Themus Fulks.

Less than three minutes into the second half, Pitt was down 44-37, following a Kugel jumper and a pair of Knights layups.

That prompted Capel to call timeout, with UCF having built its largest lead of the evening and 17:23 to play.

But the stoppage didn’t slow the Knights or ignite the Panthers.

With 14:58 left, Central Florida had jumped to a 48-37 lead, with Jamichael Stillwell and John Bol hitting close-range buckets.

“We were never really able to come back and really make any run for it,” O’Toole said. “ … To me, we got pushed around all over the place. We have got to fight back.”

Five minutes into the second half, Pitt had managed just one point and Central Florida maintained its double-digit lead.

A Bol jumper with 13:22 increased Pitt’s hole to 14, and with 11:40 to go, it was 55-42 Knights.

However, the Panthers clawed a bit closer with about 10 minutes left.

Witherspoon hit a basket, and Brandin Cummings completed a 3-point play to make it 55-47 at the 10:19 mark, but, 71 seconds later, a 3-pointer by Fulks helped increase UCF’s lead to 13.

With 7:50 to play, a Roman Siulepa turnover led to a Devan Cambridge basket, giving the Knights a 62-47 lead.

Three minutes later and Pitt again made things interesting, coming within eight after Minor drained a pair of 3-pointers to make it 66-58 with 4:17 left.

From there, UCF hit enough free throws late to seal the win.

Copyright ©2025— Trib Total Media, LLC (TribLIVE.com)