Nicholls State Colonels vs Pittsburgh Panthers Match Player Stats On Nov 09, 2019

D'Angelo Hunter scored 17 points as visiting Nicholls State led most of the way and knocked off Pittsburgh 75-70 on Saturday afternoon.

After taking Big 10 foe Illinois to overtime in the season opener, the Colonels won despite shooting 41.5 percent (27 of 65) from the floor and committing 16 turnovers. They compensated for both deficiencies by hitting 11 of 24 (45.8 percent) 3-pointers and handed the Panthers their third loss in 73 all-time November games at the Petersen Events Center.

Kevin Johnson added 16 points while reserve guard Andre Jones chipped in 15 as Nicholls State survived a rough day from Dexter McClanahan, who was held to five points after scoring 25 in the season opener.

Reserve Ryan Murphy scored a career-high 28 points for Pittsburgh, which led for only 35 seconds early in the first half. Murphy had little help as Xavier Johnson and Trey McGowans each scored 10 points to account for the lone Panthers (1-1) in double figures.

Murphy shot 10 of 17 and hit Pittsburgh's only four 3-pointers by going 4 of 7 from behind the arc. The Panthers shot 50 percent overall but missed eight of 18 free throws and committed 21 turnovers.

Nicholls State forced Pittsburgh to miss its first six shots and led 41-31 halftime before expanding it to 50-38 on Kevin Johnson's 3-pointer with 16:01 left.

The Panthers kept chipping away and Xavier Johnson's layup with 4:05 left brought Pittsburgh within 60-59. Kevin Johnson's 3-pointer pushed Nicholls State's lead to 67-59 with 2:26 to go and the Colonels held on down the stretch.

Pittsburgh was down 73-70 after Warith Alatishe hit two free throws with 37 seconds left but Au'Diese Toney was called for traveling on a layup attempt with 25 seconds to go. The Panthers had one more chance to tie after Jones missed a free throw, but Murphy committed a turnover with 10 seconds left and Jones hit a layup to ice it as the buzzer sounded.

--Field Level Media