Pittsburgh Panthers vs Miami Hurricanes Match Player Stats On Dec 16, 2020

Ithiel Horton scored 18 points and Au'diese Toney added 15 to lead the visiting Pittsburgh Panthers to a 70-55 win over the injury-plagued Miami Hurricanes on Wednesday night.

In the ACC opener for both teams, Pitt (5-1, 1-0) won its fifth straight game.

Pittsburgh's Justin Champagnie, a 6-foot-6 sophomore who was coming off two straight games with at least 20 points and 20 rebounds, was plagued by first-half foul trouble. He finished with 10 points and nine rebounds.

Due to injuries, Miami (3-2, 0-1) only had seven scholarship players available. Two of Miami's top three scorers -- Chris Lykes and Kam McGusty -- were out along with freshman wing Earl Timberlake, forward Sam Waardenburg and center Rodney Miller. All but Waardenburg are due back this season.

Miami went on top 35-34 with 15:45 left in the second half. But within a couple of minutes, two more Miami players -- leading scorer Isaiah Wong and freshman Matt Cross -- went down with injuries, and Pittsburgh seized momentum.

Wong, who later returned, led Miami with a game-high 21 points. Anthony Walker added 12 points and 10 rebounds.

Two transfers made their debuts in this game: Elijah Olaniyi for Miami and Nike Sibande for Pitt.

Olanyi, who started 64 games in three years at Stony Brook, had seven points and two steals and a dunk for his first Miami basket.

Sibande, who was a standout at Miami of Ohio, had three points.

Pitt, which led by as many as nine points early, went to halftime with a 27-25 advantage. Miami closed the half on a 9-2 run.

In the first half, Miami got to the foul line 14 more times than Pitt but only converted 55 percent of its free throws (11-for-20). Both teams struggled on 3-pointers as Pitt made just 1-of-7, and Miami missed all eight of its long-distance attempts.

Champagnie had just two points and two rebounds in the first half. He was one of three Pitt starters with two first-half fouls.

Pitt, though, pulled away in the final 10 minutes of the game, finishing plus-14 on rebounds and holding Miami to 32.7-percent shooting from the floor.

For the game, Miami shot just 20.8 percent on 3-pointers (5-for-24) and 51.6 percent on free throws (16-for-31).

--Field Level Media