PITTSBURGH — Pitt throttled Jacksonville on Friday night, taking down the Dolphins by a score of 107-56 in front of the Panthers’ faithful.
The Panthers led wire to wire, dominating the game from the tip. Ishmael Leggett and Blake Hinson each had five points before Jacksonville had scored a single point in the game, and the Panthers never looked back.
While the Panthers’ competition is about to get much more difficult with five-straight high major opponents looming, there are certainly benefits to playing buy games to begin the season. One of those, in the eyes of many fans of college basketball, is that the metrics that compare programs across college hoops appear to love lopsided victories. On Friday night, Pitt’s 51-point win proved just that.
Prior to the game, the Panthers were listed as the No. 48 team in Kenpom.com’s rankings. After the win, the Panthers were listed as the No. 38 team in the nation, per Kenpom.com,
The Panthers take on Florida in Brooklyn, New York, in the Preseason NIT event on Wednesday, Nov. 22. That game will tip off at 9:30 p.m. at the Barclays Center. After that game, Pitt will have Thanksgiving off, and then will play either Oregon State or Baylor, once again in Brooklyn.