4-0 Pitt To Host Former Big East Rival Villanova

Pitt (4-0) vs. Villanova (3-1)

Date: Nov. 17, 2026
Time: 7:00 p.m.
Location: Pittsburgh, Pa. | Petersen Events Center (12,508)
Television/Streaming: ACC Network (Jay Alter | Randolph Childress)
Panthers Radio Network: Flagship Coverage 93.7 The Fan (Bill Hillgrove | Curtis Aiken)
X/Instagram: @Pitt_Athletics | @Pitt_MBB

THE OPENING TIP

Pitt returns home with a 4-0 record to host intrastate rival Villanova (2-1) Tuesday night at 7 p.m. The Panthers welcome the Wildcats to Petersen Events Center for the first time since 2013.
The game will be televised on the ACC Network with Jay Alter (play-by-play) and Randolph Childress (analysis) on the call.
On the radio, Bill Hillgrove handles the play-by-play duties for the 58th consecutive season. Broadcast partner and Pitt Hall of Famer Curtis Aiken will provide the commentary of the game on the Panthers Radio Network (flagship coverage on 93.7 The Fan).
Pitt and Villanova have played 66 times and the series is all knotted up at 33 apiece. Villanova beat the Panthers in Philadelphia a year ago but Pitt had won the six meetings prior to that. In fact, the Panthers are 6-0 all-time against the Wildcats inside The Pete.
Pitt improved to 4-0 on the season Friday night with a 76-64 win at Butler. The Bulldogs entered the game averaging 92.0 points per game but Pitt held them to 22 second-half points.

A BUTLER COMEBACK

The Pitt men's basketball team held Butler to 22 points after halftime and rallied from a double-digit deficit for the second time this year to defeat the Bulldogs 76-64 Friday night at Hinkle Fieldhouse. Butler entered the game averaging 92.0 points per game but were held 28 points below its season average.
Pitt trailed 42-34 at the break and Butler led by as many as 11 points in the second half. But the Panthers used an 18-3 run midway through the second half to turn an eight-point deficit into a seven-point lead.
Butler led 51-43 with 12:58 to play when Pitt made its run to take over. Naithan George, who flirted with a triple-double, hit a three-pointer at the top of the key. After a media timeout, Akir Souare had a slam dunk to pull the Panthers within three.
The Bulldogs tried to weather the storm with a three-pointer but Jonathan Powell immediately answered with his own bomb. After a Butler missed three-pointer, Chase Foster drove and scored through contact. His free-throw tied the game for the first time.
Each team came up with empty possessions, but Jalil Bethea gave Pitt the lead for good with a corner three. Foster followed with a fadeaway jumper in the lane and Powell made a couple of free-throws that put Pitt ahead 61-54.
From there, the Pitt defense turned up the intensity and Butler made just 1-of-11 shots down the stretch as the Panthers pulled away.
Five Pitt players scored in double-digits with Powell posting a game-high 17 points, adding six rebounds. Foster came off the bench for 15 points (11 in the second half), six rebounds, two blocks and two assists, while Baye Ndongo had 13 points, seven rebounds, three steals and two blocks. George had 11 points, eight rebounds, eight assists and three steals, while A'lahn Sumler had 10 points, three rebounds and three assists.
Pitt held Butler to just 33 percent shooting and the Bulldogs were 7-of-34 from three. They entered the game making 14.0 three-pointers per game, among the top 10 in the country. Pitt, on the other hand, shot 46 percent from the field and made 16-of-20 (80 percent) free-throws. The Panthers had 16 assists on 26 baskets.

BIG EAST, BIG HISTORY

Old Big East foes, Pitt and Villanova couldn't get any closer than a 33-33 record over 66 all-time meetings.
Of those 66 games, 48 came during regular season Big East play and the Panther were 28-20 in those contests.
Eight more games came in the Big East Tournament in which Villanova was 6-2. In total, the two teams have met in the postseason 12 times.

CHASING HISTORY

Making his collegiate debut against Rider, Chase Foster scored 18 first half points and finished the game with 23 points, along with six rebounds, three steals and two blocked shots.
Foster's 23 points were the most in Pitt history for a freshman in his debut. His three-pointer late in the game pushed him past Associate Head Coach Ricardo Greer, who had 21 points in his debut on Nov. 17, 1997.
It didn't take long for Foster to set another record though. With 20 points in the team's second game against Buffalo, he became the first freshman in Pitt history to score 20+ points in each of his first two games.
Against Butler, Foster scored eight points during a key 18-3 run in the second half that turned an eight-point deficit into a seven-point lead.

THE DIAPER DANDY

Dick Vitale recognized Chase Foster as his Diaper Dandy of the Week last Monday after Foster established a new standard for freshmen at Pitt.
Foster has established himself early as one of the top freshmen in the ACC. He leads the ACC in scoring among all freshmen at 16.0 per game, just ahead of Wake Forest's Gavin Placide at 14.7.
Foster also ranks among the top five freshmen in the ACC in minutes (fourth at 28.3), rebounds (fourth at 6.8) and blocked shots (fifth at 1.5).

KEVIN WILLARD RETURNS TO PITT

Villanova Head Coach Kevin Willard is a 1997 Pitt graduate, who played for the Panthers from 1995-97 after sitting out the 1994-95 season as a transfer from Western Kentucky.
Willard's father, Ralph, was the head coach at Pitt from 1994-99.
Kevin played in 60 games during his career at Pitt, posting 176 points and 143 assists during that time. He was a Big East All-Academic performer for the Panthers.
Kevin has coached four games against his alma mater, but only twice in Pittsburgh. As the head coach at Seton Hall, he lost to the Panthers inside the Pete in 2011 and 2013.

BAYE THE WAY

Baye Ndongo had a rare 20/20 game against Buffalo, finishing with 23 points and a career-high 21 rebounds. It was just the 16th 20/20 game in program history.
Ndongo became just the third Pitt player in the last 30 years with a 20/20 game, joining Justin Champagnie and DeJuan Blair. Champagnie and Blair each had two 20/20 games in their careers.
Billy Knight holds the Pitt program record with three career 20/20 games, doing so between 1972 and 1974.

BAYE ON BOTH SIDES

With that 21-rebound game, Baye Ndongo now holds a unique distinction.
Not only is Ndongo the last Pitt player to have at least 15 rebounds in a game, he is the last Pitt opponent to record 15 rebounds in a game against the Panthers.
Ndongo had 17 rebounds for Georgia Tech on Feb. 25, 2025 as the Yellow Jackets faced Pitt inside the Petersen Events Center. Despite the effort, Pitt won that contest, 73-67.

IN-NAIT ABILITY

Naithan George entered Pitt with 530 career assists and led the ACC in assists as a sophomore in 2024-25 at 6.5 per game.
While it is early, George has a chance to once more finish among the ACC leaders in assists. He is tied with NC State's Preston Edmead for second place in the conference at 6.5 assists per game thus far. Notre Dame's Braeden Smith is atop the league standings at 7.3 per game.
With George directing the offense, Pitt is averaging just 11.0 turnovers per game and the Panthers' +5.3 turnover margin ranks third in the ACC.

POWELL PACKS A PUNCH

Junior Jonathan Powell got off to a slow start in his Pitt debut, missing his first two three-point attempts. But that was short-lived as he began a barrage on the Rider defense.
Powell's first three-pointer of the game came with 3:12 to play in the first half and he added a second one just 28 seconds later. He knocked down his third of the half with 50 seconds left that put Pitt ahead 48-26.
In the second half, Powell made his first three long-range attempts to give him six in a row and he ended the game 6-of-9 from three.
Powell has made multiple three-pointers in all four games to start his Pitt career and is shooting 39.4 percent from long range. He leads the team in minutes played as his shooting and defense (five steals vs. Penn State) has made him difficult to take off the court.

KEEPING IT CLEAN

Pitt has only had four of its own shots blocked this year and none in the last two games.
The last time Pitt had a shot blocked was a Chase Foster layup attempt with 4:03 remaining in the Buffalo game. Pitt gathered the offensive rebound anyway, Foster was fouled and made both free-throws.

SECOND-HALF SHUTDOWN

Pitt has already rallied twice from double-digit second-half deficits to win. The Panthers have done that by locking in defensively after the break.
Opponents are shooting less than 25 percent from the field and 14 percent from three-point range after the halftime break this year.

OPENING STRONG

Pitt is off to a 4-0 start for the third time in the last four years.
The 2024-25 team started the year 6-0 before a loss to Wisconsin, while the 2023-24 team also started 4-0 before losing to Florida.

WHEN IT'S 80, IT'S GREAT

Pitt is 58-3 under Jeff Capel when reaching the 80-point mark in a game, including each of the first three games of the 2026-27 season.
Pitt had won 32 consecutive games when scoring 80 or more points before falling 98-88 to NC State in the ACC Tournament second round to close the 2025-26 season.
Pitt improved to 42-0 at home under Capel when scoring 80+ points with an 80-61 victory over Buffalo.
Pitt has won 155 consecutive home games when scoring 80+ points since a 90-83 double overtime loss to St. John's on Jan. 22, 1998.

FOUR-DIGIT FIREPOWER

Pitt enters the 2026-27 season with three players who have already surpassed 1,000 career points, two of whom have done it playing their entire careers in the ACC.
Following the Penn State game, Baye Ndongo is the team's leading career scorer with 1,194 points. Naithan George follows with 1,093 and A'lahn Sumler has 1,077 career points.

NO PLACE LIKE THE PETE

Pitt has compiled a 327-105 (.757) record, including a 191-20 (.905) ledger in non-conference play, at the Petersen Events Center.
Pitt is 28-31 (.475) versus teams ranked in the top 25 of the AP Poll at the Petersen Events Center, with a 14-11 (.560) mark against top-10 teams and a 9-5 (.643) ledger versus teams ranked in the top-5.

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Players Mentioned

Jalil Bethea

Chase Foster

Naithan George

Baye Ndongo

Jonathan Powell

Akir Souare

A'lahn Sumler

University of Pittsburgh Athletics