Former Pitt guard Parker Stewart's return to The Pete ends in ejection, defeat

Not only did Parker Stewart fail to reach 1,000 career points when he returned to Petersen Events Center on Monday night, but the former Pitt guard didn’t even finish the game.

Less than halfway through the second half of Pitt’s season opening 80-58 win against Tennessee Martin, Stewart got tangled with the Panthers’ Blake Hinson, some shoving ensued and he was given two flagrant fouls and ejected.

“I thought the official ruling was he got a flagrant 1 (foul) for him and Blake Hinson got hooked up,” UT Martin coach Ryan Ridder said. “I guess when people reacted, he had shoved another guy. That’s why there were two separate flagrant fouls. That’s the way it was explained to me.

“It got a little ugly there for a time, but I just think it was a bunch of dudes trying to compete and trying to find a way to win the basketball game.”

UT Martin’s K.J. Simon said returning to Pitt, where he played as a freshman during the 2017-2018 season was important to Stewart.

“He talked about it a lot. He came back to make a point, to make a statement.

“This was his first home. His family was out there. All his people were there. He really wanted to have a great game. He made a mistake, got out of character. That’s not him at all.

“Parker is soft-spoken and a great dude. This meant the world to him to come back and play at Pitt.”

Pitt coach Jeff Capel, who talked to Stewart about staying at Pitt when he was hired in 2018, called him “a great kid.”

“I hate what happened.”

Stewart was leading UT Martin with nine points when he was ejected. After he left, the Pitt lead jumped from 51-37 to 67-39 in four minutes.