University of Pittsburgh Athletics
Pitt
11-18,4-12ACC
Cal
20-9,8-8ACC
Pitt Closes West Coast Swing with 72-56 Victory at Cal
2/28/2026 7:22:00 PM | Men's Basketball
BERKELEY, Calif. — The Pitt men's basketball team bolstered its ACC Tournament hopes in emphatic fashion Saturday, closing out their west coast swing with a dominant 72-56 victory over Cal at Haas Pavilion. Nojus Indrusaitis came off the bench to score 16 points, while Barry Dunning, Jr. added 15 points and 12 rebounds as Pitt (11-18, 4-12 ACC) controlled the game wire to wire, never once surrendering the lead. Cal falls to 20-9 overall and 8-8 in ACC play with the loss.
Pitt set the tone immediately, jumping out to a 5-0 lead and never looking back. Cameron Corhen was a disruptive force from the opening tip, collecting four steals in the first half alone as the Panthers capitalized on Cal's 12 first-half turnovers to build their advantage.
Corhen also got the offense going early, finishing a conventional three-point play on a driving layup to push the Pitt lead to 14-7, and the Panthers extended the margin to eight — their first-half high — on an Indrusaitis wing three-pointer that made it 27-19.
Cal made it interesting with a pair of 5-0 runs that trimmed the deficit to three, but Pitt answered each time. Dunning connected on a wing three to stop one surge, and Roman Siulepa converted two free throws to push the lead back to seven at 24-17. When the Golden Bears closed to within three again late, Dunning — fouled on a three-point attempt — made 2-of-3 from the line and then tipped in a missed shot at the buzzer to send Pitt to the locker room with a 34-26 advantage.
Dunning finished the half with 11 points, four rebounds and two blocks. Corhen added eight points and his four steals, while freshman Omari Witherspoon chipped in two points, three assists, two rebounds and two steals.
Damarco Minor wasted no time extending the lead in the second half, draining a three-pointer on the Panthers' first possession to push the advantage to 11 at 37-26. Cal responded with back-to-back buckets to get within six, but Siulepa answered with a highlight-reel dunk off a Corhen assist to push it back to a 39-31 advantage.
The Golden Bears refused to go away quietly, trimming the deficit to three at 47-44 before Indrusaitis responded with a banked-in transition three to make it 50-44. The two teams then went cold for several possessions before Pitt broke the drought, capped by an Indrusaitis dunk off a Corhen pass that gave the Panthers a 54-44 lead with just over six minutes to play.
Cal pulled within seven with a three-point play, but Witherspoon scored inside off a Corhen feed to push the lead back to 10. Indrusaitis, who was a consistent problem for Cal all afternoon off the bench, then converted a layup off a goal tend call to make it 58-48. After a Cal three-point play made it 58-51, Dunning tapped in a tipped pass and Corhen scored inside to give Pitt an 11-point cushion with under three minutes remaining.
Indrusaitis delivered the knockout blow, knocking down a corner three for the largest lead of the game at 65-51. Minor then capped the scoring with four consecutive free throws, and Witherspoon added two more as the final margin grew to 16.
Indrusaitis and Corhen led all scorers with 16 points apiece, with Indrusaitis going 6-of-11 from the field including 4-of-6 from three-point range in 28 minutes off the bench. Dunning posted a double-double with 15 points and 12 rebounds, while Minor finished with 13 points — including a big early three-pointer to open the second half — and went 5-of-6 from the free-throw line in the closing minutes. Corhen added 16 points and four assists, and Witherspoon contributed six points, five rebounds and six assists.
Pitt held Cal to just 5-of-22 (22.7 percent) from three-point range in the game, with the Golden Bears going a dismal 1-of-13 from beyond the arc in the second half. The Panthers outscored Cal 15-7 on second-chance points and 9-3 on fast break points, winning the turnover battle as well with 16 Cal turnovers leading to 18 Pitt points.
With the victory, Pitt remains in a tight race for the final spot in the ACC Tournament. The Panthers have two regular season games remaining to earn a spot. Pitt will host Florida State for Senior Night Wednesday at 9 p.m. in the final game of year inside Petersen Events Center.
