Pitt men’s basketball recorded its second conference win on Wednesday, defeating ACC newcomer University of California 86-74. Pitt advances to 11-2, while Cal falls to 7-6 and 0-2 in ACC play. The matchup marked Pitt and Cal’s first matchup in almost 25 years when Pitt faced the Golden Bears in the 2002 NCAA tournament.

Cal dominated the first 15 minutes of the game, leading 39-23 with 4:19 remaining in the first half. The Golden Bears looked comfortable, while the Panthers played sloppy and couldn’t keep up with Cal’s offense. Pitt then went on an 11-2 run within only two minutes to dwindle the Cal lead down to just 4 points at halftime.

The end of the first half saw the drama unfold with dualing technical fouls on DJ Campbell and Zach Austin immediately after a quick 5-0 run by Pitt. Another tech was then called on a furious Head Coach Jeff Capel after yelling at the refs. The play resulted in two free throws by Cal guard Andrej Stojakocavic, one of which the former four-star recruit missed.

Stojakocavic is the Golden Bears' leading scorer this season, averaging 19.1 points per game. The Stanford transfer led all players with 12 points at halftime. Stojakocavic is the son of former NBA first-round pick and NBA champion Peja Stojakocavic.

Stojakocavic is not the only Cal player with family ties in the NBA; freshman guard Stephon Marbury II is the son of Stephon Marbury, who played 13 years in the league across five teams.

Pitt’s poor rebounding harmed them in the first half. Cal had 9 offensive rebounds, while Pitt managed to grab just 4. This led to 15 second-chance points for Cal, while Pitt had only 3.

Pitt finally retook the lead with 17:34 remaining in the second half thanks to a corner three-pointer from freshman guard Brandin Cummings. Pitt held onto the lead for the rest of the way. Cummings showed out in his first start of his career, ending with 15 points, the 3rd highest mark of the game for the Panthers.

Cummings found himself starting after the Panther's leading scorer Ishmael Leggett was ruled out due to a lower leg injury. The severity of Leggett’s injury is currently unknown, but it is thought not to be major.

When coach Jeff Capel was asked whether Leggett would return for Pitt’s next game on Saturday, he said, “I don’t know… we’ll have to see.”

Pitt is already without fellow senior guard Damien Dunn, who suffered a broken hand against Wisconsin in late November. The Panthers hope Dunn can return by the end of the month.

Cal also had some injury troubles entering the game. Cal was without junior forward BJ Omot, who averages 10 points a game for the Golden Bears.

Sophomore guard Jaland Lowe and junior forward Cam Corhen led the way offensively with 27 and 19 points, respectively. Corhen’s 19 points are a season-high for the Florida State transfer, and he has now scored at least 15 points in back-to-back outings. Cummings, Lowe, and Corhen combined for about 70% of all points scored by Pitt.

Cal’s offense was led by freshman guard Jeremiah Wilkerson, who had 24 points off the bench for the Golden Bears. Cal was hindered by foul trouble as they had five players reach four fouls.

Pitt will face Stanford on Saturday evening, another ACC opponent who also beat Cal early in December.