Pitt Beats Virginia Tech Behind Dominant Second Half
PITTSBURGH -- The Pitt Panthers faced heightened pressure in their game against the Virginia Tech Hokies after seeing their status on the NCAA Tournament bubble take a hit following their blowout loss to Wake Forest. With their at-large hopes hanging in the balance, the Panthers rose to the occasion and used a strong second half performance to help them overcome the Hokies 79-64 at the Petersen Events Center.
Pitt shot 50.9% overall and 53.1% during the second half while outscoring Virginia Tech 43-28 during that stretch. Blake Hinson, Jaland Lowe and Ishmael Leggett all finished in double figures while the Panthers held the Hokies to 15% shooting on 15 attempts from behind the arc.
Pitt scored on each of its first three possessions and began the game on a 7-0 run, though a scoring drought of over two-and-a-half minutes before the first media timeout stagnated its offense. The Panthers managed to maintain a 7-2 lead, however, as they held Virginia Tech to 1-of-5 shooting over the first four minutes.
A pair of missed dunks by Zack Austin prolonged Pitt's scoreless stretch while Hunter Cattoor nailed a pullup jumper at the 13:33 mark that gave the Hokies an 8-7 lead.
Austin snapped the Panthers out of a 0-of-8 shooting lull with a layup on the next trip down the floor before a Guillermo Diaz Graham three-pointer provided them with a 12-10 lead heading into the second media timeout at the 11:47 mark.
Lynn Kidd and Austin both recorded baskets out of the break while Lowe converted a pair of free throws as the Panthers clung to a 17-14 lead. Hinson's second triple of the contest extended it to 22-16 as the third media timeout rolled around at the 7:38 mark.
Flawless ball movement set up an open look for Lowe from the corner, where he connected for his first three of the game and made it 25-18. The Hokies cut the deficit to 27-24 at the fourth media timeout after going 4-of-5 from the field leading up to that point.
Hinson and MJ Collins exchanged mid-range jumpers in a 33-31 game that the Panthers led at the 1:26 mark. Sean Pedulla hit the Hokies' first three-pointer of the game with 54 seconds left in the first half, which tied it at 34-34 and marked their fifth-straight make from the floor. The contest remained deadlocked at 36-36 going into halftime.
The first half was a mixed bag both offensively and defensively for Pitt. It shot 48% from the field and 41.7% from behind the arc on 12 attempts, but it also committed 12 turnovers and came away with just two second chance points off of four offensive rebounds.
On the other end, the Panthers held Virginia Tech to 16.7% on six attempts from three-point range but were ravaged inside the paint and allowed it to close the half shooting 50% from the field.
Hinson led Pitt with 12 points on 4-of-10 shooting, shouldering most of the load after Bub Carrington played just five minutes as a result of early foul trouble. Pedulla took control for the Hokies and tallied 14 points on 5-of-9 shooting to go with six rebounds and four assists.
Pedulla picked up right where he left off early in the second half, handing Virginia Tech the lead after knocking down a pair at the charity stripe. The Panthers quickly erased their miniscule deficit and later captured the lead on a Diaz Graham layup, making it 44-42 with 15:41 left at the first media timeout.
The Hokies found themselves in a bit of a conundrum as Pedulla, Cattoor and Robbie Beran, three of their starters, each had three fouls with a majority of the half left to go. Pitt used that to its advantage in the form of a 13-0 run that grew its lead to 53-42 at the 12:59 mark.
A Lowe jumper and Diaz Graham three-pointer stretched the Panthers' run out to 18-0 and pushed their lead to 58-42. Mylyjael Poteat broke the Hokies' slump with a layup, but they were unable to do much else before a media timeout at the 7:55 mark in a 64-49 game.
Threes from Cattoor and Collins helped make it a 10-point game, but Pitt punched back with an 8-0 run of its own before further stretching its lead to 77-57 at the 3:30 mark.
The Panthers held the Hokies at arm's length in the closing minutes on their way to a blowout victory, mending some of the wounds from their prior loss and helping them get momentum back on their side for the home stretch.
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