Utah Loss Helps Pitt in NCAA Tournament Race
PITTSBURGH -- As they pursue a second-straight NCAA Tournament bid, the Pitt Panthers got some help from an upset to a Pac 12 bubble team late in the night.
Utah suffered a surprising upset on the road against Oregon State, falling to 18-12 overall and 9-10 in a Pac 12 that is not particularly strong this season. They were hanging on to a spot in the projected field but this loss should do some major damage to their resume and give Pitt a chance to move up.
Brandon Carlson scored 40 points on 16-26 shooting, Deivon Smith added 19 points and 10 rebounds and the Utes shot 51.5% from the field. But it wasn't enough to overcome a 20-point effort from Oregon State's Tyler Bilodeau, a 25-point night from Jordan Pope and 31 made free throws out of 37 attempts from the Beavers.
The Utes entered the night as a First Four Out team according to ESPN's Joe Lunardi and he said they had a chance to jump into the projected field as one of the Last Four In with a win over the Beavers. Instead, they'll likely drop. CBS Sports' Jerry Palm had the Utes already in as one of his Last Four In.
Pitt is still one of the Next Four Out according to Lunardi and a First Four Out team according to Palm. They'll try to give their resume one last boost with a home game against N.C. State this weekend before heading to the NCAA Tournament in Washington, D.C. next week.
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