Louisville men’s basketball couldn’t keep Pitt from lighting it up from long range in a 91-57 road loss Tuesday night.
The Panthers (17-7, 10-3 ACC) torched the Cardinals with a 17-for-31 clip from beyond the arc, as well as an 18-for-20 showing from the free-throw line. They shot 54.9% overall with 23 assists.
“We’ve played a lot good teams in this conference,” UofL head coach Kenny Payne said. “I’m here to tell you that probably the most complete, the toughest team we’ve faced in this conference is Pittsburgh. Tough, fight, can score a multitude of ways, they share the ball, they talk on defense. When one guy is down, I hear four guys talking to that one guy who’s down.
“… I could talk about what we didn’t do right, but I can just tell you we didn’t come to a fight. It was a fight, and we didn’t show up. And I blame myself for that.”
Redshirt freshman forward Mike James had eight points in the first five minutes for Louisville (3-21, 1-12), and the game was tied at 14-all after a pair of free throws by senior guard El Ellis at the 13:36 mark.
Pitt went on a 24-3 run from that point forward, going up 38-17 at the 4:43 mark following a basket by Jamarius Burton.
Louisville trailed 47-27 at the break as the Panthers shot 61.5% from the field in the first half – 9 of 15 from 3-point land – and held UofL to 29.6% in the opening frame.
Pitt made its first four 3s of the second half and opened the frame on a 13-1 run. The Panthers’ largest lead came by 38 with 2:17 to go.
Nike Sibande paced Pitt with 15 points.
James’ 11 points led Louisville, while sophomore guard Hercy Miller had a career-high 10 points. Redshirt junior forward Jae’Lyn Withers added nine points, and freshman forward/center Emmanuel Okorafor tallied six points, six rebounds and four blocks.
Louisville stays on the road to face No. 19/20 Miami at 7 p.m. ET Saturday in Coral Gables, Fla. The game will air on ACC Network.
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