Pitt Wins Rock Fight vs Iowa State, Advances in NCAA Tournament
GREENSBORO -- The Pitt Panthers started as hot as possible, allowed their opponents to roar back, played poorly for the vast majority of the game and still walked away victorious in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.
No. 11 Pitt held No. 6 Iowa State to just 23.3% shooting from the field and 9.5% shooting from 3-point distance to survive their own subpar shotting and earn a 59-41 victory - their second in the NCAA Tournament this season.
Iowa State hounded the Panthers from the jump, pressuring them up into the backcourt to disrupt the offensive rhythm. It bothered Pitt only momentarily before the Panthers found their footing. They opened the game on a 10-1 run that was fueled almost entirely by Guillermo Diaz Graham. He scored five points, grabbed two rebounds and blocked a shot in the first three minutes.
Blake Hinson knocked down a triple from the edge of the March Madness logo at midcourt and Nike Sibande made one of his own while Iowa State struggled to find anything productive offensively. They missed their first eight attempts from the field and arrived at the second media timeout of the half trailing 19-2, having scored their only points off a pair of free throws.
Federiko Federiko played his first minutes since the ACC Tournament, checking in at the 13:23 mark and knocking down a free throw before returning to the bench.
The Cyclones didn't score their first field goal until the 9:54 mark of the first half but by then, they already trailed 22-4. Back-to-back rushed possessions resulted in turnovers for the Panthers, allowing Iowa State to create some easy shots in transition.
A cold streak for Pitt from the floor allowed Iowa State to get back into the game with a 13-2 run. Jaren Holmes and Gabe Kalscheur combined for all 13 of those points over a 4:21 span to cut the deficit to 24-12 with 4:29 left and a putback dunk from King made it just a seven-point deficit as the final media timeout of the half arrived.
The Panthers persevered a slim lead with six free throws but Iowa State's increased defensive pressure forced them into nine first half turnovers and scored 10 points off those turnovers. Still, the Panthers arrived at halftime leading 30-23.
Nelly Cummings broke an 8:44 field goal drought that spanned both halves with an and-1 floater. Then he pushed the Pitt lead back north of double digits at 36-25 - with a pull-up triple from the top of the key at the 15:15 mark of the second half. It came off a crucial offensive rebound from Guillermo Diaz Graham.
After that triple from Cummings, both sides proceeded to score just two points over the ensuing four minutes. Jamarius Burton made his first field goal with 11:06 to play. That and two free throws from Blake Hinson expanded Pitt's lead to 40-26 by the midway point of the second half.
Frequent fouls brought the game to a crawl but a sweet pick-and-roll game between Jorge and Guillermo Diaz Graham led to a dunk for the latter twin that brought the arena back to life and put the Panthers back up 12. A layup from Cummings made it a 14-point advantage with 6:19 to play.
A four-point play by Nike Sibande from the near corner with 4:47 left to tie the Panthers' largest lead of the afternoon at 50-30. The Panthers never looked back, holding on to that large of a lead for the remainder of the game to finish off the blowout victory.
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