Pitt's Papa Amadou Kante labeled 'game-changer' by teammates after he scores 12 to help defeat Ohio State

After Pitt’s rousing 91-90 overtime victory against Ohio State, Jaland Lowe made sure he hung around the reporters surrounding Papa Amadou Kante. Lowe had something he needed to say, and he wanted everyone to hear it.

First, Lowe shook his head and smiled when Kante called him “the best player in the country.”

Then, he approached his teammate with a handshake and a hug, saying, “I’m proud of you in this journey. You were the game-changer today. I love you. Game-changer, right there.”

“No, no,” Kante responded. “He’s the one.”

There were several players who made plays that mattered against the Buckeyes and led Pitt to its second Power 4 victory on consecutive Fridays.

Lowe scored a career-high 28 points and Ishmael Leggett added 21. Zack Austin hit the game-winning 3-pointer with 4-10ths of a second left in the game, but he told reporters Pitt won because Kante came off the bench with energy.

Told of his teammate’s remark, Kante disagreed.

“We won the game because of him,” he said. “If he doesn’t make that shot, we go home. What I do doesn’t matter.”

But what Kante did mattered significantly. After playing only 17 minutes in the first seven games and none at all over 80 minutes in the Greenbrier Tipoff last weekend, Kante scored 12 points in 17 minutes, grabbed four rebounds and blocked a shot to help defeat Ohio State.

With Cam Corhen scoring only four points in 21 minutes while burdened with foul trouble, Kante gave Pitt a presence in the paint. Plus, he hit 6 of 9 free-throw attempts in the tense moments of the second half and overtime.

Kante, a redshirt freshman from Senegal, missed 2023-24 with a knee injury, and coach Jeff Capel has kept a close eye on his 6-foot-10, 235-pound forward throughout the first days of this season. He unleashed him early in the second half when Pitt needed a lift while trailing 53-41.

It wasn’t easy last season to sit and watch his teammates win 22 games and reach the semifinals of the ACC Tournament. But he heeded the words of his high school coach, South Kent (Conn.) Prep School’s Raphael Chillious, who told him to be ready when it’s his time.

“My high school coach tells me college is different,” Kante said. “You have to stay ready.”

Despite the victory that gave Pitt a 7-1 record for the first time in six years, Kante said a long, hard season awaits and he and his teammates must trust what brought them this far.

“We have to get better,” he said. “We just know we love each other and we make each other better every day.”