PITTSBURGH (AP) — Ismael Leggett scored 14 points and Jaland Lowe put up a double-double with 11 points and 10 rebounds as Pittsburgh won its fourth straight home game to open the season, romping past VMI in a Greenbrier Tip-Off home game on Monday night.
VMI has completed its River Division of the tournament after losing to Tennessee Tech 72-71 Friday, then beating Charleston Southern 80-69 to finish third. Pitt travels to Greenbrier Resort in White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia, Friday to face LSU. The Panthers will face either Wisconsin or UCF Sunday.
All five starters scored in double figures for Pitt and Jorge Diaz Graham added 12 points off the bench. Leggett, who has scored in double digits in each game, hit 6 of 9 from the floor but saw his three-game streak of 15 or more points snapped by a digit. Guillermo Diaz Graham scored 13 points and grabbed six rebounds. Cameron Corhen had a perfect shooting game, hitting all five of his shots from the field while going 2 for 2 from the line to score 12. Damian Dunn added 11 points.
The Keydets (4-2) were down by double digits before they got themselves on the board. Linus Holmstrom knocked down a 3 at the 14:25 mark to make it 10-3. A Holmstrom 3-pointer with 5:56 left in the first half cut the deficit to three points, but the Panthers responded with nine straight points and an 18-2 run to close out the half with a 39-20 lead.
Holmstrom hit 3 of 8 from behind the arc off the bench and led VMI with 15 points. TJ Johnson added 12 points.
___
Get poll alerts and updates on the AP Top 25 throughout the season. Sign up here. AP college basketball: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-basketball-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/college-basketball
