PITTSBURGH — Sam Houston closed out one of the toughest non-conference road schedules in the nation with a 110-78 loss to Pitt at the Petersen Events Center on Saturday afternoon.
The Bearkats dropped to 6-6 overall and opened the 2024-25 campaign with eight road games, including four in a row, that featured losses to four Power 4 programs.
Cameron Huefner led Sam Houston with 26 points,
Lamar Wilkerson scored 15,
Erik Taylor nine and
Kian Scroggins finished with eight.
Two stretches of the first half doomed the Bearkats as they were fighting from behind from the opening tip. Pitt began the game with a 10-0 run before
Lamar Wilkerson finally scored Sam Houston's first five points. The Panthers answered with a 3, but
Josiah Hammons followed suit to make it 13-8.
Dorian Finister, Scroggins and Huefner sparked a 6-0 run by the Kats to pull with 17-14 midway through the first half. Once again Pitt strung its own offensive explosion together and scored 11 unanswered to retake control of the game.
The Panthers led by as many as 40-23, but Taylor provided a spark for Sam Houston off the bench. He hit two clutch 3-pointers to help the Kats pull within 52-40 at the break.
Wilkerson opened the second half with a 3 to trim the lead to 11. Pitt pushed the lead to 69-49 by outscoring the orange and white 15-7 over the course of the next four minutes to pull away.
Sam Houston shot the ball well from behind the arc. The Bearkats nailed seven 3-point baskets and shot 54 percent from the floor.
Pitt was just better from long range Saturday. The Panthers knocked in 16 for 31 of its 3-point attempts, including going 8 for 17 in the first 20 minutes to open it up.
Sam Houston returns home for one final game of 2024. The Bearkats host Dallas on Dec. 28 at 2:30 p.m.
