Panthers Host Monmouth Sunday [7 PM] at the Petersen Events Center

Pitt (3-6, 0-1 ACC) vs. Monmouth (7-2, 2-0 MAAC)
Sunday, Dec. 12, 2021 • 7:00 PM
Pittsburgh, Pa. • Petersen Events Center
ACC Network • 93.7 The Fan

The Opening Tip
• Pitt welcomes Monmouth to the Petersen Events Center for a Gotham Classic matchup Sunday, Dec. 12. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m. with Drew Carter and Dan Bonner calling the game for the ACC Network.
• The Panthers are 5-0 in Gotham Classic action, including Thursday's 71-68 win over Colgate. Monmouth dropped a hard-fought battle, 88-83, at St. John's in its first game of the event.
• Pitt's past three games have been decided by a combined five points. The Panthers are 2-2 on the season in games decided by five points or fewer.
• Pitt is 19-7 against teams currently in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference, including a 1-0 mark against Monmouth.
• John Hugley has topped the 20-point mark four times and is leading Pitt in scoring (16.1 ppg.) and rebounds (7.4 rpg.). He is 47-of-86 (.547) on two-point field goal attempts and 42-of-61 (.689) from the foul line. Hugley has scored in double figures a team-high seven times this season, including each of the past four contests.
• Jamarius Burton has scored in double figures in each of the past two games, including a season-high 13 points in Thursday's win over Colgate.
• Pitt has held its past three opponents to 5.7 three-point field goal per game and 27.0 percent (17-of-63) shooting from beyond the arc. The Panthers ' opposition made 59 threes (9.8 3pg.) over the first six contests of the season.

By THE NUMBERS
• John Hugley has scored 20 or more points four times and has three double-doubles through the first nine games of the season. He currently ranks among the league leaders in scoring (9th - 16.1 ppg.), rebounds (T-7th - 7.4 rpg.), field goal percentage (14th - .485) and offensive rebounds (T-4th - 2.89 orpg.).
• Mouhamadou Gueye is averaging 8.5 points, 7.3 rebounds and 1.5 blocks per game over the past four contests. He ranks seventh in the ACC in blocks, while averaging 5.9 points and 5.9 rebounds in 22 minutes per game.
• Jamarius Burton is averaging 9.1 points, 2.4 rebounds and 2.9 assists in 31.1 minutes per game after missing five weeks of action including Pitt's first two games of the season due to injury. He has scored 10 or more points in each of the past two games and 30 times in his career.
• Pitt is playing without its top five scorers from a season ago with a season-ending injury to Nike Sibande, a suspension of Ithiel Horton, the departure of Justin Champagnie to the NBA and two offseason transfers. Femi Odukale (6.6 ppg.) and John Hugley (5.1 ppg.) are the only returning players to average better than 5.0 points per game last season. The tandem has combined for 12 double-figure scoring games and an average of 27.1 points per game.
• Femi Odukale is averaging 13.9 points and 4.5 rebounds per game, while shooting 45.5 percent (55-of-121) from the field in 12 career games when playing over 25 minutes. He has scored in double figures in seven of those 12 contests.
• Dan Oladapo has not missed a field goal attempt in six of Pitt's nine games and is shooting a team-best 18-of-23 (.783) from the field overall. He is now shooting 57.1 percent (291-of-510) from the field for his career. Oladapo averages 5.0 points in 14.5 minutes per game.
• William Jeffress is 10-of-20 (.500) from the field, including 6-of-11 (.545) from three-point range over the past four games. He has grabbed five or more rebounds seven times and is averaging 6.6 points, 5.8 rebounds and 1.1 steals per game for the season.
• John Hugley has gotten to the free throw line 34 times in the past four games and is now tied for first in the ACC in free throws per game (6.8 ftpg.). He ranks third with 4.7 free throws made per game, while shooting 68.9 percent from the charity stripe.
• Pitt is averaging 26.9 points in the paint and 14.2 points from the foul line per game. Interior scoring and foul shots have accounted for 66.9 percent (370-of-553) of the team's points this season.
• Pitt has been outscored 228-117 from three-point range through eight games. Pitt's top two returning three-point threats Nike Sibande (injury) and Ithiel Horton (suspension) have not played a game this season. Onyebuchi Ezeakudo (7-of-11, .636) is the lone Panther shooting over 35.0 percent from three-point range.
• The Panthers have shot better than 70 percent from the free throw line in four of the past five contests. Pitt is 71-of-99 (.717) from the foul line in that span with a season-high 19 made free throws in the win over Colgate.
• Pitt has nearly as many made free throws (128) as its opponents have attempted (130) on the season. The Panthers are averaging 22.4 free throw attempts per game and have outscored the opposition by 38 points from the free throw line.
• Pitt's sophomore class - Noah Collier, John Hugley, William Jeffress and Femi Odukale - combines to average 35.5 points and 19.0 rebounds per game for the Panthers.

PANTHER SPOTLIGHTS
• John Hugley has scored 20 or more points in three of the past four games and is averaging 20.0 points and 7.8 rebounds per game in that span.
• Onyebuchi Ezeakudo, a walk-on guard, is 6-of-10 (.600) from three-point range, while averaging 5.5 points in 21.3 minutes per game over the past four contests. He has made his past three three-point attempts.

Panthers Host Monmouth Sunday [7 PM] at the Petersen Events Center

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Players Mentioned

Jamarius Burton

Justin Champagnie

Noah Collier

Onyebuchi Ezeakudo

Mouhamadou Gueye

Ithiel Horton

John Hugley IV

William Jeffress

Femi Odukale

Dan Oladapo

Nike Sibande