Shortly before tip Tuesday night, Pittsburgh announced that starters Justin Champagnie and Au’Diese Toney are out. Champagnie, Pitt’s leading scorer and the leading rebounder in the ACC, will miss 6-8 weeks with a knee injury.
The reigning ACC Player of the Week, Champagnie was set to enter Tuesday’s contest averaging 17.8 points and a conference-leading 12.3 rebounds per game. Before foul trouble limited his time on the floor against Miami, Champagnie produced back-to-back games in which he scored at least 20 points and grabbed at least 20 rebounds.
Though he was a starter last year and a key contributor as a freshman, Toney has taken on a much larger role so far this season than he ever has before.