Pitt's Defense Shines in Win Over Notre Dame
PITTSBURGH -- The Pitt Panthers came into Saturday's game knowing that they couldn't let their guard down against a defensive-minded Notre Dame Fighting Irish squad that has performed better than its record would suggest. Despite a slow start, the Panthers regrouped and took control of the game on both ends of the floor on their way to a 70-60 win that marked their 300th overall at the Petersen Events Center. Blake Hinson and Bub Carrington combined for 33 points as Pitt shot 40% from three-point range while holding the Irish to 39.2% shooting from the field and 26.3% shooting from behind the arc.
Carrington recorded the first points of the game on a pair of free throws during Pitt's first possession of the game before hitting a mid-range jumper on his next trip down the floor. Despite seeing its leading scorer in Markus Burton get into early foul trouble, Notre Dame jumped out to a 7-6 lead before the first media timeout at the 14:32 mark as the Panthers were straddled with a scoring drought of over two minutes at that juncture.
Baskets from Matt Zona and Logan Imes grew the Irish's lead to 12-6 at the 12:59 mark. That score would hold through the second media timeout at the 11:52 mark as the Panthers were in the midst of a 1-of-7 stretch while going over five minutes without a point.
An Ishmael Leggett layup out of the break snapped Pitt out of its funk, though Pitt went nearly three minutes without scoring after that play. Notre Dame carried a 13-10 lead into the third media timeout at the 7:55 mark despite being mired in a two-and-a-half minute long scoreless drought of its own.
Burton and Imes scored on back-to-back possessions following the stoppage, pushing the Irish's lead to 17-10. An and-one by Leggett cut it to 19-15 before Carrington nailed Pitt’s first pair of three-pointers of the game, providing the Panthers with a 21-19 lead going into the final media timeout of the first half at the 2:57 mark.
Braeden Shrewsberry ended Pitt’s 10-0 run and tied things up at the 2:44 mark before Hinson responded with his first three of the game and took the lead right back for the Panthers. Another three-pointer from Hinson made it 28-22 in the closing seconds as Pitt went into halftime with a six-point lead.
The Panthers finished the first half on a high note offensively, though the bigger picture wasn’t quite as encouraging. They shot 38.5% from the field and began 0-of-9 from behind the arc against a formidable Notre Dame defense that cornered them into several lengthy scoring droughts. Pitt’s defense handled an inexperienced Irish squad as well, however, holding them to 39.1% shooting from the field while also forcing six turnovers.
Carrington led all scorers with 10 points on 3-of-7 shooting in the first half while Imes and Tae Davis paced Notre Dame with four points each.
Two quick buckets from Davis and Burton made it a one-point game less than a minute into the second half. Threes from Zack Austin, Hinson and Carrington pushed the Panthers' lead to nine points, however, as the score was 39-30 leading into the first media timeout of the half at the 15:42 mark.
Leggett snapped a nearly three-minute-long scoring drought for the Panthers at the 14:02 mark before hitting a pair of free throws on the following possession to make it 43-34. A Jaland Lowe three further widened Pitt’s lead to 46-34 before the second media timeout at the 12:55 mark.
Notre Dame's offense continued to sputter as it fell into a 1-of-7 stretch and scoreless stretch of over three minutes as Guillermo Diaz Graham joined the party with a three-pointer and made it 49-34 at the 11:40 mark.
The Irish trimmed their deficit to 51-40 going into a media timeout at the 7:51 mark following a pair of free throws from both J.R. Konieczny and Kebba Njie. The Panthers began to cool down offensively at that point as well with a scoring drought of over two minutes and a 0-of-6 shooting slump. It didn't take long for Pitt to find itself again, however, as Federiko Federiko and Hinson both scored out of the break and pushed the lead to 56-42.
Notre Dame remained active on the defensive end and held the Panthers without a field goal for two-and-a-half minutes, but the Irish offense had trouble getting anything going and fell down 63-46 while in the midst of a 1-of-11 cold spell before a media timeout at the 3:05 mark.
The Irish went on a mini-run and cut it to 66-55 with 1:21 to play, but the Panthers didn't let the game get away from them as they went on to close out their fourth ACC win in their last five tries.
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