It’s been a great year to be a mid-major men’s college basketball team in Connecticut.
Quinnipiac became the latest program to author a power-conference upset, knocking off Pittsburgh, 83-75, on the road in the Legends Classic on Sunday.
Amarri Monroe led the way for the Bobcats (4-2), who earned their first-ever win over an ACC school in five tries. Monroe buried his final six shots and finished 9 for 13 with four 3-pointers. He also added 3 rebounds and 4 steals.
Grant Randall added 15 points on 5-for-7 shooting for Quinnipiac. Keith McKnight had seven points and seven rebounds and fellow reserve Tai Turnage scored seven with seven assists.
The victory was the latest in a run of upsets for state mid-majors. Two weeks ago, Central Connecticut State knocked off Boston College, 60-59, on the road, then beat Rutgers, 67-54 on the road, for the program’s first-ever wins over ACC and Big Ten schools.
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Roman Siulepa led the Panthers (4-3) with 20 points and eight rebounds. Siulepa made 9 of 12 shots from the floor but only 2 of 8 at the foul line. Barry Dunning Jr. scored 17 but missed 8 of 11 from beyond the arc. Nojus Indrusaitis scored 14 off the bench and Cameron Corhen pitched in with 13 points and seven rebounds.
Monroe had 10 points, Randall scored nine and Quinnipiac shot 68% from the floor in powering its way to a 47-37 lead at halftime.
Dunning buried a 3-pointer, Siulepa scored six straight and Dunning capped a 14-4 run with a layup to pull the Panthers even at 51-all with 14:26 remaining. Jaden Zimmerman answered with a 3-pointer and the Bobcats led the rest of the way.