Hokie ClubBLACKSBURG — Jaland Lowe scored 19 points to lead No. 18 Pitt to a 64-59 victory over Virginia Tech on Saturday in the Atlantic Coast Conference opener for both teams inside Cassell Coliseum.
Lowe connected on just 6 of 16 from the floor, but made all six of his free-throw attempts, including four in the final 25 seconds to help the Panthers (8-2, 1-0) bounce back from a 33-point loss to Mississippi State on Wednesday. He scored 15 of the Panthers’ final 21 points.
Ishmael Leggett added 17 points for the Panthers, who won despite shooting 41.1%.
Tobi Lawal led Virginia Tech (3-6, 0-1) with 16 points. Jaden Schutt scored 14 points for the Hokies, who have lost six straight games.
Virginia Tech scored just three points in the final 5:19 and missed its final seven shot attempts. Pitt trailed the entire second half until Lowe’s driving layup with 50 seconds remaining gave the Panthers a 60-59 lead.
Takeaways
Pitt: The Panthers led for less than three minutes in this game, but showed some grit down the stretch and came away with the perfect tonic to ease the sting from their last game.
Virginia Tech: The Hokies outplayed the Panthers for much of the game and were in perfect position to win, but poor shooting down the stretch led to another loss.
Key moment
Virginia Tech led 56-51 with less than four minutes to play, but Lowe hit his only 3-pointer with 3:04 remaining to cut the lead to 56-54. He went on to score 11 of the Panthers’ final 13 points.
Key stat
Virginia Tech’s 17 turnovers led to 17 Pitt points. The Hokies have turned the ball over at least 15 times in six of their nine games this season.
Up next
Virginia Tech hosts North Carolina A&T on Thursday at 7 p.m.