Champagnie's 22 points, 10 boards help Pitt beat N. Illinois

Dec 6, 2020, 04:01 am

PITTSBURGH -- — Justin Champagnie had 22 points and 10 rebounds at Pittsburgh hit a season-high 14 3-pointers in the Panthers' 89-59 win over Northern Illinois on Saturday night.

Ithiel Horton, Xavier Johnson and Au'Diese Toney each scored 15 points for Pitt (2-1). Horton — who made nine 3s in a game for Delaware as a freshman — hit a season-high five 3-pointers, Champagnie added four 3s, and Johnson had seven assists.

Champagnie sandwiched a pair of 3-pointers around five points by Johnson in an 11-0 run that gave Pitt an 18-point lead with 39 seconds left in the first half. The Panthers, who made a combined 11 of 43 (25.6%) from behind the arc in their first two games, hit 9-of-20 3s before the break.

Trendon Hankerson hit four 3s and finished with career-high tying 18 points for Northern Illinois (0-3). Darius Beane added 11 points.

Horton hit three 3s in a span of 2 minutes, 38 seconds seconds. Hugley then made a jumper to make it 60-34 with 13:09 to play and an 11-0 run — including a put-back dunk by Champagnie — gave the Panthers their biggest lead at 77-41 with 6:34.

The Panthers tied their season high with nine steals and scored 31 points off 17 NIU turnovers.

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