Pitt Stuns Virginia for Another Road Win
PITTSBURGH -- The Pitt Panthers travelled to Charlottesville knowing they had an opportunity to make major noise if they could snap No. 21 Virginia's 23-game winning streak at home while continuing their ascent up the ACC standings. As has been the case all season, Pitt put its best foot forward on the road and glided to a 74-63 win over the Cavaliers that could pay off in a major way moving forward.
The Panthers did what few teams have all season by finding ways to crack Virginia's defense as they shot 44.8% from the field and recorded 14 three-pointers. Pitt completely stymied the Cavaliers' perimeter shooting on the defensive end as well, holding them to 28.6% shooting on 14 attempts.
Blake Hinson hit a turnaround jumper for Pitt's first points of the game before backing down Ryan Dunn for a layup on the following possession. Federiko Federiko announced his presence early with a block that he turned into a dunk on the other end, though Virginia carried an 11-9 lead into the first media timeout at the 14:50 mark after Isaac McKneely recorded seven early points on 3-of-3 shooting.
Bub Carrington nailed a three-pointer out of the stoppage before Ishmael Leggett responded with one of his own at the 12:58 mark that put the Panthers up 15-13. Carrington later finished a four-point play while Guillermo Diaz Graham joined in on the action with Pitt's fifth three of the first 10 minutes as it held a 22-18 lead going into the second media timeout at the 10:41 mark.
Neither side scored for nearly two minutes before Hinson converted a floater that extended the Panthers' lead to six points. A foul on a three-point attempt by McKneely allowed the Cavaliers to cut their deficit to one point at the 7:24 mark before Reece Beekman gave them a 25-24 lead on a layup.
Jaland Lowe snapped a three-minute-long scoring drought on a corner three that repossessed the lead for Pitt before Hinson made his first triple of the contest at the 4:41 mark that made it 30-25.
Virginia roared back and took the lead back after a basket from Jacob Groves at the 2:16 mark. The Panthers fell into another lengthy scoring drought that lasted four minutes and included three turnovers, but a Diaz Graham three-pointer and flagrant foul on Beekman in the closing seconds provided Pitt with a 35-31 lead at halftime.
It's hard to realistically envision a better first half performance than the one the Panthers pieced together given the circumstances. Pitt shot 44.4% from the field and 42.1% from behind the arc on eight makes against a Virginia squad that owns one of the best defenses in the nation. Pitt's defense held up its end of the bargain on the perimeter but was leaky on the interior, allowing the Cavaliers to notch 16 points in the paint.
Hinson led the Panthers with 9 points on 4-of-9 shooting with Carrington trailing close behind as he tallied seven points of his own. McKneely paced Virginia with 10 points and was the only player to finish with a double-digit total in the first half.
Hinson opened the second half with a bang on a long three-pointer from the top of the key. Andrew Rohde immediately responded with a triple as the Cavaliers went on to take a 40-38 lead with a 9-0 run as Pitt slipped into a three-minute-long scoreless stretch before the first media timeout at the 16:29 mark.
Hinson breathed some life into the Panthers' offense with a layup that tied the game out of the break, but a Beekman and-one swiftly placed Virginia back in front at the 15:42 mark. Leggett knotted things back up with a three from the corner before Lowe converted a floater at the 13:40 mark that tied it at 47-47 after the Cavaliers briefly went back up.
A Hinson three-pointer gave Pitt a 50-49 lead as part of a 5-of-5 shooting stretch before Lowe came through with a triple from the wing that extended its lead to four points before the media timeout at the 10:19 mark.
A moving corner three by Hinson made it 58-51 off of an out-of-bounds play as the Cavaliers went over three minutes without a field goal before the media timeout at the 7:52 mark.
A Lowe floater pushed Pitt's lead to 60-52, though Beekman matched his output on the other end. Hinson's fifth three-pointer of the game at the 6:30 mark handed the Panthers their first double-digit lead of the contest, forcing Tony Bennett to burn a timeout.
A Lowe jumper and Hinson second chance layup grew the lead to 68-56 at the 4:47 mark before Carrington further widened it to 70-56 with a layup at the 3:02 mark as Virginia found itself in a scoring drought of over three minutes.
A McKneely three cut the Cavaliers' deficit to 11 points at the 2:06 mark, but the Panthers remained steady down the stretch and earned arguably their most impressive win of the season as they simultaneously extended their winning streak to four games.
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