Pittsburgh and Virginia are looking to bounce back after tough losses as they face each other on Monday in an Atlantic Coast Conference game.
The Panthers (14-7, 5-5 ACC) lost 76-74 at Wake Forest on Saturday, ending their two-game win streak, while the Cavaliers (10-12, 3-8) were defeated 75-74 at home by Virginia Tech, missing a chance to get back to .500.
Pitt led by five points early in the second half against Wake Forest, but the game came down to free throws. Both teams were perfect at the line, with the Panthers going 20-of-20 and the Demon Deacons 20-of-22, including six free throws in the final 22 seconds to secure the win.
Damian Dunn led Pitt with a season-high 24 points, while Jaland Lowe and Ishmael Leggett combined for 30 points but struggled, shooting just 8-for-26 from the field.
“We had missed shots right at the rim we didn’t make,” said Panthers coach Jeff Capel. “Whether it was layups, pull-ups — things like that, we have to make those. If we take a shot, we can’t give up a layup in transition … we had some opportunities, we just didn’t capitalize.”
Virginia also had a chance to win on Saturday after trailing by as many as 13 points to Virginia Tech.
Isaac McKneely led the Cavaliers with 19 points. Andrew Rohde added 12 off the bench, but his contested shot at the buzzer rolled off the rim.
“We fought back all the way, had a chance to win it,” McKneely said. “So you just gotta live with the result at that point. But I was proud of the way we fought back.”
McKneely leads Virginia with 13.3 points per game and is shooting 42.3% from 3-point range. Lowe (17.4) and Leggett (16.5) provide scoring for the Panthers.
Virginia leads the all-time series 19-6, but Pitt has won the last two matchups, including a 74-63 win last season in Charlottesville, Va.
The Panthers are 10-2 at home this season, while the Cavaliers earned their only road win of the season on Jan. 29 at Miami.
