Pitt Beats Wake Forest in ACC Quarterfinals
WASHINGTON, DC -- The Pitt Panthers' entire season culminated against Wake Forest in the quarterfinals of the ACC Tournament on Thursday. In a battle of NCAA Tournament bubble teams, a loss would've sent the Panthers home with virtually no chance of making the field while a win would've kept them alive for another day.
With its back against the wall, No. 4 seed Pitt met the challenge and defeated the No. 5 seed Demon Deacons 81-69 in a physical contest that almost slipped from its grasp. Ishmael Leggett played hero for the Panthers as he recorded a season-high 30 points on 11-of-18 shooting while the team as a whole shot 48.1% from the field. Pitt held Wake Forest to 28.6% from three-point range and were able to handle a ferocious comeback attempt on its way to a crucial win.
Federiko Federiko scored for the Panthers on their first possession of the game before Leggett drilled the first three by either side at the 15:59 mark. Pitt carried a 10-9 lead into the first media timeout at the 14:18 mark despite Wake Forest making four-straight field goals up to that point.
Leggett recorded baskets on back-to-back trips down the floor out of the stoppage before a Guillermo Diaz Graham three extended the Panthers' lead to 17-12 at the 12:59 mark going into the second media timeout of the contest.
Blake Hinson followed up a Leggett second chance layup by converting a block into a deep three-pointer, making it 22-14 while Steve Forbes was called for a technical foul. An 8-0 run for Pitt grew its advantage to 25-14 as the Demon Deacons called a timeout at the 8:36 mark.
Wake Forest trimmed its deficit to 25-18 while the Panthers endured a scoring drought of over two minutes. A Bub Carrington turnaround jumper snapped them out of the funk while a Leggett layup pushed the lead back to 29-20 ahead of a media timeout at the 3:21 mark.
Carrington's first three of the game gave Pitt a double-digit lead before Cameron Hildreth responded with a layup on the other end. Diaz Graham and Jaland Lowe punched back, however, scoring on consecutive possessions as the Panthers widened their lead to 37-23 at the 1:29 mark.
Hunter Sallis nailed his first field goal of the game at the 1:12 mark, but Pitt held firm and took a 38-26 lead into halftime.
The Panthers were efficient on the offensive end in the first half, shooting 46.7% from the field and 40% on 15 attempts from behind the arc. They also came away with six offensive rebounds while garnering 18 points from their bench, making it a teamwide affair.
On the defensive end, Pitt held the Demon Deacons to 3-of-11 shooting from three-point range while forcing eight turnovers over the first 20 minutes.
Leggett led the Panthers with 11 first half points with Hinson trailing behind with 10 points on 3-of-6 shooting while Hildreth paced Wake Forest with 10 points of his own.
A Hinson step back three set the tone early in the second half, but a Demon Deacons 7-0 run brought Pitt's lead down to 41-33. A Leggett three-pointer over Efton Reid at the top of the key made it 46-35 before the first media timeout of the half at the 16:21 mark.
Another Hinson triple grew the margin to 51-36 as the Panthers embarked on a 12-1 run. Wake Forest was able to cut it to 55-40 leading into the second media timeout at the 11:12 mark as Pitt was in the midst of a two-minute-long scoring drought.
A pair of threes for Sallis followed by a Hildreth and-one made it 57-49 with 9:06 remaining in the contest. Lowe turned a Hinson block into a transition layup, stretching the Panthers' lead to 59-49 ahead of a media timeout at the 7:50 mark.
An Andrew Carr and-one further trimmed it to 61-56 for the Demon Deacons as they continued to apply pressure on Pitt's defense. A tough finish by Leggett at the rim gave the Panthers some momentum, but a Hildreth corner three made it 63-59 at the 5:31 mark.
Leggett and Carr traded second chance layups as the score held at 67-64 with 3:22 left in the contest. Leggett later nailed a pair of free throws that pushed the Pitt lead to 71-65, though Carr also responded with a pair of his own to bring it back to 71-67.
Diaz Graham and Leggett followed with clutch layups as the Panthers' advantage extended to 75-67 at the 1:24 mark.
Pitt fended off Wake Forest from there as the game clock ticked down to zero, moving it into the semifinals of the ACC Tournament against No. 1 seed North Carolina while also seeing a boost in its chances of an appearance in the Big Dance.
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