Former Iona Signee Samson George Signs With Pitt
Samson George, the 6-foot-7 forward from Nigeria
By JOEDY McCREARY
DURHAM, N.C. (AP) — Grayson Allen scored 18 of his 21 points in the second half, and No. 21 Duke beat Pittsburgh 72-64 on Saturday in coach Mike Krzyzewski’s return after a four-week break following back surgery.
Amile Jefferson added 15 points, freshman Jayson Tatum had 12 and Luke Kennard added 10 to help the Blue Devils (18-5, 6-4 Atlantic Coast Conference) win their third straight.
Michael Young scored 24 points and Jamel Artis added 17 for the Panthers (12-11, 1-9), who have lost eight straight but the ACC’s last-place team gave its preseason favorite fits all game.
Peace Ilegomah, a 6-foot-10 center from Montverde (FL) Academy, committed to Pittsburgh on Friday, becoming the sixth commit in their 2017 class.
The native Nigerian joins point guards Marcus Carr and Aaron Thompson, shooting guard Jared Wilson-Frame, small forward Shamiel Stevenson and power forward Terrell Brown in Pitt’s 2017 class. Carr also plays at Montverde.
Ilegomah also held offers from St. Louis, Seton Hall and Quinnipiac. Pitt assistant Kevin Sutton is the former head coach at Montverde.
“Peace has gotten a lot better from the start of the season to now,” Montverde assistant Rae Miller said. “His best years are still ahead of him. He’s athletic and strong, able to rebound and defend at a high level.”
Ilegomah got his start with the Sports U AAU program in New Jersey.
By WILL GRAVES
PITTSBURGH (AP) — Donovan Mitchell scored a career-high 27 points, Anas Mahmoud added 14 while making all seven of his shots and No. 13 Louisville overwhelmed Pittsburgh 106-51 on Tuesday night.
The Cardinals (17-4, 5-3 Atlantic Coast Conference) rebounded from a close loss at No. 10 Florida State on Saturday by handing the reeling Panthers the second-worst loss in the program’s 111-year history.
Louisville held Pitt (12-8, 1-6) to 25 percent shooting (13 of 51) and never let the Panthers in the game. Pitt went without a basket for more than 12 minutes during the first half as the Cardinals built a 37-13 lead and kept pouring it on.
“That’s about as disappointing of a performance as I could possible imagine,” head coach Kevin Stallings said after the loss. “It’s embarrassing. It’s unacceptable. It’s my responsibility to have them prepared to play better than that, harder than that, smarter than that.”
By GARY B. GRAVES
LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — Quentin Snider scored 22 points, including two free throws with 25.3 seconds remaining, and Deng Adel added a free throw 8 seconds later as No. 14 Louisville survived Jamel Artis’ career-high 43 points to outlast Pittsburgh 85-80 on Wednesday night.
The Cardinals appeared in good shape with a 59-35 lead midway through the second half before Artis’ 32-point second half rallied the Panthers within 81-76 with 45 seconds remaining. Donovan Mitchell made one of two from the line before Snider and Adel added critical free throws to provide a cushion as Louisville (14-3, 2-2 Atlantic Coast Conference) won its second straight.
Snider also had a couple of key baskets down the stretch to finish 7 of 11 from the field including 3 of 4 from long range. Mitchell and Adel each finished with 15 points and Ray Spalding had 11 for the Cardinals.
By DAVID GINSBURG
COLLEGE PARK, Md. (AP) — Jamel Artis scored 15 of his 22 points in the decisive first half, and Pittsburgh held off previously unbeaten Maryland 73-59 Tuesday night in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge.
The Panthers (6-1) shot 67 percent from the floor before halftime, including 5 for 10 beyond the arc, and used a 25-4 run to turn a 16-15 deficit into a 40-20 lead.
It was 51-26 with 15:45 remaining before Maryland (7-1) closed to 63-55 with three minutes left. But the Terrapins could not complete the comeback.
Lamar Patterson, a 6-foot-4 junior forward committed
