University of Pittsburgh Athletics
Pitt
3-0,0-0ACC
Penn State
2-1,0-0Big Ten
| Team | 1 | 2 | F |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pittsburgh | 42 | 40 | 82 |
| Penn St. | 38 | 38 | 76 |
11/8/2026 10:52:00 PM | Men's Basketball
PHILADELPHIA – A'lahn Sumler scored 18 second half points, including two clutch free-throws late, and the Pitt men's basketball team battled through foul trouble to outlast rival Penn State Sunday night, 82-76. The game was the 150th in the rivalry and was played inside The Palestra in celebration of the building's 100thanniversary.
Sumler finished with a game-high 26 points, adding four assists and two steals, and Pitt shot 49 percent from the field to improve to 3-0 on the season. Pitt dominated inside in the first half, then turned to its perimeter players to carry the scoring load after halftime. Penn State fell to 2-1 with the loss.
A game after posting 23 points and 21 rebounds, Baye Ndongo had 13 points, eight rebounds and four assists, but played limited minutes with foul trouble, eventually fouling out with 20 seconds remaining. Naithan George and Akir Souare ended with four fouls apiece, while Chase Foster, Armani Mighty and Jalil Bethea had three fouls each.
Penn State used an 8-0 run to take a 35-28 lead but the Panthers answered with a 14-3 run to close the half and take a 42-38 lead into the break. Pitt scored 32 of those 42 first-half points in the paint.
Sumler scored 13 of Pitt's first 15 points in the second half, shooting a perfect 4-of-4 from the field, including 3-of-3 from three-point range and 2-of-2 from the free-throw line.
Despite that start, Penn State briefly took a 49-48 lead. Sumler, though, answered with a three-pointer and Pitt never trailed again.
A Ndongo dunk with less than two minutes to play gave Pitt its largest lead of the game at 77-69, but Penn State had one last push. Ivan Juric rattled home a three-pointer with 44.9 seconds left and then the Nittany Lions forced a turnover on a full court trap and scored inside to make it 77-74.
After George made a free-throw on the next possession, Penn State cut the deficit to two with a pair of free-throws with 19.4 seconds left. But Sumler went back to the line with 13.2 seconds remaining and tossed in both free-throws for the 80-76 advantage. Pitt locked up the game with a steal and Jonathan Powell dunk with 2.4 seconds left for the 82-76 win.
Powell ended with 13 points and a game-high five steals as Penn State committed 16 turnovers, seven more than Pitt's nine. Souare scored Pitt's first six points of the game, on three assists from Ndongo, and ended with seven points, four rebounds and a blocked shot.
Off the bench, Bethea had seven points, while Foster added six points and six rebounds. Mighty played productive minutes with Ndongo and Souare in foul trouble, finishing with three points and two rebounds.
After playing three games in six days, Pitt will now be off until Friday when the Panthers play at Butler at 6:30 p.m. on Peacock. Pitt will return home to host Villanova on Tuesday, Nov. 17 at 7:00 p.m.
