Jaland Lowe’s triple-double leads Pitt to a 93-48 victory against VMI

Sometime after the Washington Wizards game, late Monday night, Bub Carrington’s phone buzzed with the news.

Carrington, a guard for the Wizards, is no longer the only Pitt player to record a triple-double in the past 12 months.

Jaland Lowe, a 6-foot-2 sophomore, reached the milestone in Pitt’s 93-48 win against VMI on Monday night, scoring 11 points, with 10 rebounds and 10 assists.

The call, of course, came from Lowe’s.

“I’ll talk to him and tell him I kind of followed in his footsteps,” Lowe said.

A year ago, Carrington recorded a triple-double in the 2023-24 opener against North Carolina A&T.

Jorge Diaz Graham hit a three-point shot for Lowe’s final three assists to complete the performance. He finished the game with a total of four 3s.

“I trust my work,” Diaz Graham said. “I made it. That’s what I do.”

Lowe said he realized a triple-double was possible at halftime, when he had six points, six rebounds and three assists.

“It was just in the flow of the game,” he said. “I just realized it might be possible at halftime. The lanes opened up for assists for my teammates. Rebounds came my way because I was in the right position.”

When Diaz Graham’s shot hit the ropes with 1 minute, 22 seconds left, it sparked an on-court celebration with the entire team in attendance.

With the win in front of a crowd of 6,391 at the Petersen Events Center, Pitt started the season 5-0 for just the third time since joining the ACC in 2013.

All five Pitt starters, plus Jorge Diaz Graham off the bench, contributed double-digit points, led by Ishmael Leggett with 14. He was followed by Guillermo Diaz Graham (13), Jorge Diaz Graham and Cam Corhen (12 each), Lowe and Damian Dunn (11 each).

VMI (4-2) had averaged 86 points per game, but didn’t score its 30th point until more than five minutes into the second half.

Pitt scored the first 10 points of the game and struggled briefly before heading into the locker room with a 39-20 lead at intermission.

VMI even outscored the Panthers, 12-9, after the opening drive, while Pitt missed 15 of its first 23 shots. This allowed the Keydets to cut their deficit to 21-18 with 5:56 left in the first half.

At that point, Leggett hit a 3-pointer, Guillermo Diaz Graham scored on a layup following a steal and Lowe hit two free throws to pump the lead back to double figures, 28-18. Pitt ended the half on an 18-2 run.

Corhen (10) and Leggett (nine) led Pitt in scoring in the first half, with Dunn and Lowe adding six each. Pitt’s final points of the first half came on a dunk by freshman Brandin Cummings off an assist from Amsal Dalalic.

Pitt opened the second half on a 12-5 run to reassert its dominance.

The game, part of the Greenbrier Tip-Off, was Pitt’s last at home until December 11. The Panthers resume the Greenbrier event Friday in White Sulfur Springs, W.Va., against LSU. The third game is Sunday against the winner of UCF/Wisconsin. Then come three consecutive road games at Ohio State (November 29), Mississippi State (December 4) and Virginia Tech (December 7) in the ACC opener.

The other times the Panthers started 5-0: in 2013-14, when they were 10-0 before finishing 26-10 under Jamie Dixon; and in 2018, Pitt was 6-0 before its first loss and a 14-19 overall record in Capel’s first season as coach.