Headline: Pitt overcame a slow start and a second-half slump to sweep the season series against N.C. State with a 81-73 win over the Wolfpack at the Petersen Events Center on Saturday night.
The teams: Pitt (21-10, 12-8 ACC) vs. N.C. State (17-14, 9-11 ACC)
Bub’s night: Saturday night was Senior Night, but Bub Carrington was Pitt’s star. The freshman guard scored 23 points on 8-of-15 shooting, including 4-of-9 from three, and handed out six assists and grabbed five rebounds while committing just one turnover. It was Carrington’s second 20-point performance in the last three games.
N.C. State’s late surge: Pitt more or less controlled the first 25 minutes, but N.C. State got hot, going on a 29-16 run to cut the lead to three points in the final 150 seconds. The Panthers made just 7-of-17 in that run, and the Wolfpack also benefited from shooting 8-of-15 from three in the second half. That shooting performance was highlighted by a 5-of-9 performance from beyond the arc by Jayden Taylor.
Rebounding: Another big key in N.C. State’s second-half success was on the boards. Pitt had a 20-11 advantage in rebounds in the first half, but the Wolfpack dominated the boards in the second half, 23-14.
Missed opportunity: N.C. State had a chance in the first 10 minutes of the game. Pitt didn’t lead during that stretch and only scored 16 points. But the Wolfpack couldn’t capitalize and only led by five at the 10-minute mark, which wasn’t enough of a cushion, because once the Panthers got hot, they took over. Pitt went on a 23-8 run to end the first half and take a 39-29 lead into halftime.
Missed opportunity, pt. 2: N.C. State had another chance in the second half. After Pitt made six shots in a row to go up 16 at the 15:33 mark, the Panthers went cold, missing their next six and eight of nine. But the Wolfpack only went on an 8-2 run, cutting the lead but not getting it into single-digits at that point.
Breaking the slump: To break that slump, Pitt turned to familiar faces. Blake Hinson ended the streak of missed shots by bullying his way to the basket for a layup. And then Carrington and Hinson hit back-to-back three’s to get the lead back to 16.
Limiting the DJ’s: In Pitt’s 67-64 win over N.C. State in Raleigh in early February, Wolfpack guard DJ Horne had 25 points on 8-of-14 shooting and big man DJ Burns had 19 points on 8-of-19 shooting. On Saturday night, Horne only scored three points while playing just 12 minutes in the first half, and Burns scored nine points on 4-of-11 shooting.
Senior night: Before the game, Pitt recognized Blake Hinson, Will Jeffress and KJ Marshall. Hinson and Marshall are out of eligibility, while Jeffress is apparently leaving Pitt with two years of eligibility remaining.
Hinson’s finish: Hinson finished his Petersen Events Center career by scoring 21 points on 8-of-16 shooting. It was Hinson’s ninth 20-point game at home this season and the 15th time that he hit for 20 or more in the Pete since the start of last season.
Other notable numbers: Taylor had a game-high 28 points for N.C. State, while the 20-point performances from Carrington and Hinson were complemented by nine points and eight points from Ishmael Leggett and eight points and nine rebounds from Federiko Federiko.
Fourth place: With Pitt beating N.C. State, Wake Forest beating Clemson and Virginia beating Georgia Tech, the Panthers will enter next week’s ACC Tournament as the No. 4 seed. That means a double-bye and a Thursday game against No. 5 seed Wake Forest, No. 12 seed Notre Dame or No. 13 seed Georgia Tech. That game is scheduled to tip at 2:30 pm on Thursday and will be televised on ESPN or ESPN2.
Rematches: During the regular season, Pitt split two games with Wake Forest but defeated Notre Dame and Georgia Tech once each.
