Burton, Sibande emerging as Panthers' secondary ball handlers

Nike Sibande.What ever the recipe is for winning on any given night in college basketball, taking care of the ball is at or near the top of the list of ingredients.

Pitt has struggled with turnovers in most points this season, having entered Monday's game at Northwestern averaging 13.4 assists and 14.7 turnovers per game. That ratio of 0.92 ranked 13th in the ACC in this early portion.

This distribution of the basketball, though still a work-in-progress on a consistent basis, has arrived primarily from Nelly Cummings, who paces the team with 35 assists in eight games. He has been the primary ball handler for the team, which entered fall camp with the expectation that Dior Johnson would be…