Pitt faces off against the Nicholls State Colonels (0-1) at the Petersen Events Center today, coming off of a big home win against Florida State to start the year. This will be the first ever matchup between Pitt and Nicholls State. Tipoff is at noon, with the game set to air on ACCNX.

Fast Facts

• Nicholls State, a member of the Southland conference, is coming off of a tight loss to Illinois, as they took the Illini to overtime before falling 78-70 in Champaign.
• Nicholls State’s head coach, Austin Claunch, is in his second year in that position with the team. At just 29 years old, Claunch is currently the youngest head coach in Division-I men’s basketball.
• The Colonels finished with a 14-17 (7-11) record in Claunch’s first year at the helm, but are just one year removed from a 21-win season in which they won 15 conference games to tie for the regular season Southland conference title.
• Nicholls State is currently ranked no. 273 in Ken Pomeroy’s college basketball ranking. Pitt is ranked no. 65.

Nicholls State Preview

Nicholls State will come into this game still searching for their team identity, having lost several key players from last year’s team. Most importantly, the Colonels need to replace the production of their leading scorer and All-Southland Honorable Mention guard Jeremiah Jefferson, who put up 17.2 points per game last year while averaging 34.5 minutes on the floor.

The Colonels also lost two other key players: senior Gavin Peppers, who averaged 13.8 points per game and shot an elite 94 percent from the free throw line; and senior center Daniel Regis, who started 19 games and averaged 6.8 points and 5.0 rebounds per game last season.

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