The Youngstown State Penguins men’s basketball team dropped its season opener on the road 74-59 to ACC opponent Pittsburgh Panthers on Monday night at the Petersen Events Center.
The Penguins were off to a good start as they took an early 14-6 lead at the 14:31 mark with Cris Carroll scoring eight of the team’s first dozen points, but Pitt was ready to pounce as they countered with a 14-5 run of their own to take a 20-19 lead with 8:16 left in the first half.
Over the next 2:40, the Penguins waddled back into it by scoring six unanswered points to take a 25-20 lead courtesy of a three and a layup by Cam Polak, followed by a Rich Rolf free throw. Ironically, YSU was in the lead for the first 13:55 of the night. But during the last 5:30 of the half, the Panthers went on to score 14 of the next 17 points — seven of those points coming from the foul line — and even went on a 9-0 run on their way to a 34-28 lead at recess, with the last four points of that span coming from Damarco Minor. In the first half alone, both teams made 11 field goals.
The close battle carried over into the second half. With 10:15 left, a three by Tae Blackshear and a putback layup from Carroll made it 54-50. The Panthers scored the next six unanswered points with a pair of free throws made by Nojus Indrusaitis, followed by a Minor bucket and an Indrusaitis dunk to put Pitt back ahead by 10 at 60-50 with 8:01 to go. YSU kept it interesting and was down just 62-55 following a Carroll three and a fastbreak layup by Nelson, but Pitt outscored YSU 12-4 for the last 5:57 of the night – eight of those points coming on foul shots – and ended up with a 15-point victory.
YSU was led by Carroll who scored 18 points and shot 7-of-12 from the field, while Nelson scored 15 of his own and was 5-of-9; both guys hit a trio of triples. Polak recorded nine points and five rebounds in 21 minutes off the bench, with six points and three dimes coming from Blackshear.
Senior Cameron Corhen finished with his fifth career double-double as he put a game-high 23 points on 8-of-11 shots from the floor with 12 rebounds, two blocks, and even shot 6-of-7 from the foul line. Sophomore Brandin Cummings added 18 points (8-of-11 FT) and a pair of steals. Indrusaitis – a sophomore transfer from Iowa State – filled up the statsheet with 13 points, four boards, two assists and two steals in 31 minutes off the bench. Redshirt sophomore Papa Amadou Kante also came off the bench and pulled down a career-high of 10 rebounds in 21 minutes, with five on those board coming off the offensive glass.
Pittsburgh out rebounded Youngstown State 46-24 and even pulled down 17 offensive boards as a unit. While Jeff Capel’s Panther squad turned the ball over 18 times, they did have nine steals and scored 20 points on 12 Youngstown State turnovers.
Pitt shot 43.5 percent from the field (23-of-53), 35.3 percent from downtown (6-of-17), and 81.5 percent at the charity stripe (22-of-27). The ‘Guins shot 39.3 percent from the floor (22-of-56), 30.3 on three-pointers (10-of-33), and 55.6 on foul shots (5-of-9).
Up next: Ethan Faulkner’s Penguins will head out west on Friday to visit the Grand Canyon Antelopes, a Mountain West school that spent the last 12 seasons in the Summit League. The Antelopes are coached by a Valparaiso legend and three-time Horizon League Coach of the Year in Bryce Drew. It will be the first-ever meeting between these two programs, with the tipoff scheduled for 9:00ET/7:00MT at the Global Credit Union Arena in Phoenix, AZ. The contest is available to watch on the Mountain West Network.
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