Troy Trojans vs Pittsburgh Panthers Match Player Stats On Nov 12, 2018

It's early, but it looks things are already a bit different with the University of Pittsburgh basketball program.

Senior guard Jared Wilson-Frame came off of the bench to score 24 points and lead the Panthers to an 84-75 win over Troy, Pitt's third straight win to start the season.

The Panthers are coming off a year where they went 8-24 before hiring Jeff Capel as head coach over the offseason.

Following a close first half that saw Pitt lead by only five at halftime, 40-35, the Panthers appeared to be pulling away in the second half.

The Panthers started the second half on a 10-4 run to take a 50-39 lead with 16:16 remaining in the game, and then took a 63-50 lead with 13:19 left.

However, Troy responded.

The Trojans pulled within seven points at 71-64 with 8:19 remaining and had a couple of opportunities to pull closer.

But Troy couldn't take score on those possessions, and Pitt got some more breathing room by scoring the next five points to take a 76-64 lead with 6:02 left.

Troy did manage to cut its deficit back to seven at 82-75, but by that time there were just 54 seconds left in the game.

A pair of free throws by Trey McGowens of Pitt turned out to be the last points of the game.

Four other players scored in double-figures for Pitt.

Xavier Johnson had 15 points to go along with nine assists and seven rebounds, Kene Chukwuka scored 13 points and McGowens and Terrell Brown each added 12 points for the Panthers, who shot 50 percent from the field (30 of 60).

Jordon Varnado had 22 points and 11 rebounds, Alex Hicks scored 16 points and B.J. Miller added 13 points to lead Troy, which shot 34.9 percent (22 of 63).

After the game was tied 14-14, Pitt went on a 16-5 run over a span of 5:30 to take a 30-19 lead with 6:01 left until halftime.

Troy mounted a rally and cut Pitt's lead to 38-35 with 12 seconds left in the first half.

--Field Level Media