Strong Defensive Effort Leads Pitt Past Purdue Ft Wayne
PITTSBURGH -- With a ten-day break proceeding the start of ACC play on the horizon, the Pitt Panthers were seeking a victory over a stout mid-major opponent that would allow them to leave off on a high note. In what can best be described as an all-around sloppy affair, Pitt seized a 62-48 win over Purdue Fort Wayne on the back of a dominant defensive performance.
The Panthers came away with 13 turnovers and 5 blocks while holding the Mastodons to 33.9 percent shooting from the field. On the other side of the floor, Pitt was able to overcome a rare off-night from Blake Hinson thanks to a balanced scoring attack that saw three Panthers finish in double-digits while the Panthers out-rebounded Purdue Fort Wayne 54-to-33.
Guillermo Diaz Graham shined for the Panthers early, recording the first basket for either side on the first possession of the game before coming away with a block seconds later. The two sides proceeded to turn the ball over on four-straight trips down the floor as Pitt relied on its defense to carry it to a 6-0 lead into the first media timeout of the half at the 15:38 mark.
Diaz Graham notched an early field goal out of the break, but the two teams went without another bucket for nearly two minutes until the Mastodons scored their first points at the 13:30 mark. Pitt later took a 10-2 lead into the second media timeout at the 11:47 mark despite enduring a 1-of-8 cold stretch to go with zero made threes up to that point.
A pair of free throws by Ishmael Leggett pushed the Panthers' lead to 15-6 at the 10:04 mark before growing it to 19-8 going into the third media timeout at the 7:58 mark. Purdue Fort Wayne had seven turnovers to four made field goals up to that point while neither side had a three-pointer to their name, starting a combined 0-of-14 from behind the arc.
Diaz Graham's strong first half continued with a pair of baskets in the paint out of the timeout that made it 23-8 Panthers and forced the Mastodons to call a timeout at the 6:14 mark. A 1-of-7 stretch for Pitt combined with a 7-1 run by Purdue Fort Wayne, headlined by the first three of the game by Maximus Nelson, cut it to 24-15 at the 4:21 mark ahead of the fourth media timeout.
Seven points off the bench from Zack Austin, including Pitt's first three-pointer at the 1:02 mark, recaptured a double-digit advantage for the Panthers and helped them take a 31-17 lead into halftime.
Pitt received few contributions from its top scorers in the first half as Hinson and Carlton Carrington went a combined 2-of-11 from the field for four points. Those offensive struggles reverberated throughout the entire roster as the Panthers shot an uncharacteristic 33.3% from the field and 7.7% on 13 attempts from deep. Diaz Graham led Pitt with nine points and six rebounds over the first 20 minutes.
Pitt's size advantage over the Mastodons allowed it to take control of the contest on the defensive end, however, as Purdue Fort Wayne shot 30.8% overall while matching the Panthers' output from behind the arc as they went 1-of-13 from that area of the floor with an additional 10 turnovers. The Mastodons stood little chance on the boards as well, finishing the first half with a 30-to-14 rebounding disadvantage.
Carrington opened the second half scoring with a mid-range jumper before adding a layup that made it 35-17 at the 18:33 mark. A Diaz Graham layup and jumper from Carrington further pushed it to 39-22 as the game entered the first media timeout of the half at the 15:39 mark.
The Panthers and Mastodons exchanged a pair of baskets out of the break before Pitt fell into a scoreless lull of over two minutes that lasted through the second media timeout. Purdue Fort Wayne took advantage of the opportunity and nailed two three-pointers as part of an 8-0 run that cut the Panthers' lead to 45-32 at the 11:40 mark.
Carrington snapped the Mastodons' run with another make from mid-range at the 11:15 mark. Hinson's first points of the half came on an and-one just over a minute later before Austin recorded one of his own at the 8:20 mark that made it 53-34 heading into the third media timeout.
Carrington got a rise out of Pitt's bench with an emphatic slam at the 6:57 mark as he continued to impose his will in the second half. Austin followed suit with a put-back dunk at the 5:12 mark that made it 60-36, opening up the Panthers' largest lead of the contest.
Pitt slipped into another two-minute scoreless stretch before the final media timeout of the game, but Purdue Fort Wayne struggled to get anything going on offense and could only reduce the Panthers' lead to 60-41 at the 3:03 mark.
Jaland Lowe's first basket of the game broke Pitt out of its offensive respite at the 1:51 mark and made it 62-41 as the Panthers ran out the clock and earned their ninth win of the season.
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