Wendy Haun
Despite showing significant improvement in their man-to-man defense in just five days, the Colonels could not get enough offensive contributors to prevail over Big East power Pittsburgh.
Eastern Kentucky University only had three players in double-figures, but still managed to keep it close, only losing to the heavily-favored Panthers, 71-60, at the Peterson Events Center in Pittsburgh.
“Tonight was the best man-to-man defensive game we’ve had to this point,” EKU coach Jeff Neubauer said. “We were not perfect but our man-to-man defense was good enough to win this game if we had had a special shooting night.”
The Colonels (1-1) kept it probably too close for Pittsburgh’s comfort in the first half, not allowing the home team to get ahead by more than 10 until EKU hit a cold streak after closing the gap to three off a three-pointer by Josh Taylor with 7:34 left.
The Panthers (3-0) scored 14 of the last 16 points, including the last 12 points of the first half to go into the locker room with a 39-24 lead.
“I made some mistakes there (at the end of the first half),” Neubauer said. “I did not do a good job of managing our personnel. I put some combinations on the court that I shouldn’t have. Our team’s effort did not fade during that time, but I did not have good combinations on the court.”
EKU faced its largest deficit — 18 points — halfway through the second half. However, the Colonels kept battling back, scoring 11 of the next 15 points, a stretch that included two threes by Justin Stommes and another three by Mike Lewis, to only trail 59-48.
“Our effort was very good and our guys stuck with it too,” Neubauer said. “Even though we were down double-figures at half, our guys stayed with it. We gave ourselves a chance to make it a buzzer-beating game.”
Despite cutting it down to eight with a minute left, the Colonels couldn’t make the shots necessary to come out on top. This is the second year in a row EKU has made a Big East team sweat it out, after forcing overtime at Cincinnati last season and only falling, 85-77, to the Bearcats.
Stommes and Taylor led the Colonel charge. Stommes was 9-of-14, including 3-of-7 from beyond the three-point line and 3-of-4 from the free-throw line for 24 points. Taylor had 11 points and four rebounds.
“Justin Stommes and Josh Taylor did what they could do offensively,” Neubauer said. “They both played very well. Pitt was very aware of them and guarded them well. They did well at the offensive end. We needed more contribution from someone. We weren’t as efficient with a third scoring force.”
The Colonels shot 40 percent from the floor, including 37.5 percent from beyond the three-point line. Another major contributor was Spencer Perrin, who had 11 points and team-highs in boards (six) and assists (five).
“His passing continues to help our team,” Neubauer said of Perrin. “He’s a very good passer and he led us in rebounding. He gives us some intangibles that we need. If he continues to improve, it will make a big difference for our team.”
Pitt was led by Ashton Gibbs, with 20 points. The Panthers outrebounded the Colonels, 47-25, and also got to the line 24 times to EKU’s seven trips to the free-throw line.
The game was the first for EKU in the CBE Classic, which will continue with three-straight nights of games next week for the Colonels. EKU will face Fairleigh Dickinson — who they faced in last year’s Classic — on Monday, with games against California-Irvine Tuesday and Texas-San Antonio on Wednesday.
