Headline: Pitt outlasts NC State 67-64 in a nail-biting win
Summary: The Pitt Panthers needed all 40 minutes to dispatch NC State on the road on Wednesday night. Pitt held a 38-30 halftime advantage and even got the lead up to double digits in the early stages of the second half, but NC State fought back and the final nine minutes of the game were played in a one possession window. Pitt overcame multiple lengthy scoring droughts in this one, but did just enough to snag its fifth road win of the season. Jaland Lowe led Pitt with 20 points and was perfect at the foul line. His two clutch free throws with five seconds remaining set the final. NC State used a tough inside-out combination with DJ Horne scoring 25 points including five 3-pointers, while DJ Burns scored 19 inside. Pitt shot only 33% in the second half and only connected on one three-pointer, but still found a way. Jeff Capel’s team has now won three straight games.
Game MVP: Jaland Lowe
Jaland Lowe was superb on Wednesday. He led Pitt with 20 points and made all of 5 his free throw attempts, including the clutch pair at the end of the game. Lowe hit a triple and had an ankle-breaking layup at the end of the first half to give the Panthers a little cushion and scored the first five points of the second half for a personal 10-0 run. If there was one negative for Lowe, he did finish with four turnovers, but the shot making and clutch foul shooting were critical in Pitt finding a way to win.
Unsung Hero: Blake Hinson
Pitt led the game for over 33 minutes in this one. Part of what allowed the Panthers to build that early advantage was Blake Hinson being engaged early. He scored 13 points and even had two assists in the first half and finished with 16 overall. Obviously Pitt survived on Wednesday, but heading into the stretch run Hinson can’t go 1-6 in the second half of a tight game, but his spark at the beginning was still key.
Turning Point: Ish Leggett’s basket at the 3:40 mark
Pitt and NC State were tied at 60 coming out of the under-4 TV timeout. The Panthers ran a play for Hinson and he got a clean look, but it was off the mark. Pitt got an offensive rebound and once again Hinson had a good attempt from three and it missed, but Ishmael Leggett was there for a second offensive rebound and he put it in to make it 62-60. Pitt never trailed after that shot. L
Key Stat: 18/20 from the foul line
Pitt has had sporadic free throw success this season, but they have had games where everything is falling. Chalk Wednesday night up as that. The Panthers made 18/20 from the line. Federiko missed the front-end of a 1 and 1 and Hinson missed one of two in the second half, but otherwise they were perfect at the line. Pitt’s freshman backcourt of Lowe and Carrington combined to go 11-of-11 themselves. Meanwhile, NC State went 6-of-15 for the game.
Road Warriors: Pitt is now 5-2 in road games this season. Given the team’s struggles at home, that has helped carry their season to this point. For whatever reason this team thrives in tough environments. The Panthers have now defeated NC State in PNC Arena in back-to-back seasons, which is not an easy feat. NC State was 26-4 over its last 30 home games going into tonight, but Pitt figured out a way to win on the road.
Smokin’ hot on Tobacco road: Jaland Lowe must like playing in the triangle. In two road wins over NC State and Duke this season, Lowe is averaging 18.5 points per game.
Post defense woes: There was clearly not a good answer to slow down DJ Burns on Wednesday and it showed. The burly big man from NC State scored 19 points on 9-of-16 shooting. The Wolfpack scored 32 of its 64 points inside the paint. Federiko Fedriko gave up quite a bit of muscle in this one, and Guillermo Diaz Graham defending reserve big man Ben Middlebrooks did not go much better. Federiko battled, however and came up with a big stop late in the game. But this continues to be a concern moving forward for this team.
Cleaning up the glass: Despite NC State getting a lot of easy looks inside, one area where Federiko and the whole team thrived was the rebounding department. Pitt won the rebounding battle 37-28 and NC State only collected seven offensive rebounds for the game. Federiko led the way there with 10 boards, but Carrington grabbing 7 of his own should not be overlooked.
Heating up in February: In Jeff Capel’s first four seasons as Pitt’s head coach, the Panthers had a collective 6-24 February record. This has been the month where seasons die for this team, but the trend changed last year. Pitt went 6-1 in February last year and is 3-0 so far this season.
The Implications: Pitt is starting to find itself as a team. The Panthers have now won five of six and three in a row. Pitt has a little breather before closing out with eight regular season games. Suddenly checking the bracketology projections and NET rankings feels relevant for this team. NC State entered Wednesday 78th in the NET rankings, which does not qualify as a Quad-1 win. So Pitt should hope the Wolfpack can string together some wins so it can eventually turn into a Quad-1 win.
Up next: Pitt is off this weekend, but will return to action on Tuesday against a tough Virginia team. The Cavaliers are not ranked nationally, but still sit in second place in the ACC standings and are a top-40 NET team. It presents Pitt with an opportunity to secure another big win.
Summary: The Pitt Panthers needed all 40 minutes to dispatch NC State on the road on Wednesday night. Pitt held a 38-30 halftime advantage and even got the lead up to double digits in the early stages of the second half, but NC State fought back and the final nine minutes of the game were played in a one possession window. Pitt overcame multiple lengthy scoring droughts in this one, but did just enough to snag its fifth road win of the season. Jaland Lowe led Pitt with 20 points and was perfect at the foul line. His two clutch free throws with five seconds remaining set the final. NC State used a tough inside-out combination with DJ Horne scoring 25 points including five 3-pointers, while DJ Burns scored 19 inside. Pitt shot only 33% in the second half and only connected on one three-pointer, but still found a way. Jeff Capel’s team has now won three straight games.
Game MVP: Jaland Lowe
Jaland Lowe was superb on Wednesday. He led Pitt with 20 points and made all of 5 his free throw attempts, including the clutch pair at the end of the game. Lowe hit a triple and had an ankle-breaking layup at the end of the first half to give the Panthers a little cushion and scored the first five points of the second half for a personal 10-0 run. If there was one negative for Lowe, he did finish with four turnovers, but the shot making and clutch foul shooting were critical in Pitt finding a way to win.
Unsung Hero: Blake Hinson
Pitt led the game for over 33 minutes in this one. Part of what allowed the Panthers to build that early advantage was Blake Hinson being engaged early. He scored 13 points and even had two assists in the first half and finished with 16 overall. Obviously Pitt survived on Wednesday, but heading into the stretch run Hinson can’t go 1-6 in the second half of a tight game, but his spark at the beginning was still key.
Turning Point: Ish Leggett’s basket at the 3:40 mark
Pitt and NC State were tied at 60 coming out of the under-4 TV timeout. The Panthers ran a play for Hinson and he got a clean look, but it was off the mark. Pitt got an offensive rebound and once again Hinson had a good attempt from three and it missed, but Ishmael Leggett was there for a second offensive rebound and he put it in to make it 62-60. Pitt never trailed after that shot. L
Key Stat: 18/20 from the foul line
Pitt has had sporadic free throw success this season, but they have had games where everything is falling. Chalk Wednesday night up as that. The Panthers made 18/20 from the line. Federiko missed the front-end of a 1 and 1 and Hinson missed one of two in the second half, but otherwise they were perfect at the line. Pitt’s freshman backcourt of Lowe and Carrington combined to go 11-of-11 themselves. Meanwhile, NC State went 6-of-15 for the game.
Road Warriors: Pitt is now 5-2 in road games this season. Given the team’s struggles at home, that has helped carry their season to this point. For whatever reason this team thrives in tough environments. The Panthers have now defeated NC State in PNC Arena in back-to-back seasons, which is not an easy feat. NC State was 26-4 over its last 30 home games going into tonight, but Pitt figured out a way to win on the road.
Smokin’ hot on Tobacco road: Jaland Lowe must like playing in the triangle. In two road wins over NC State and Duke this season, Lowe is averaging 18.5 points per game.
Post defense woes: There was clearly not a good answer to slow down DJ Burns on Wednesday and it showed. The burly big man from NC State scored 19 points on 9-of-16 shooting. The Wolfpack scored 32 of its 64 points inside the paint. Federiko Fedriko gave up quite a bit of muscle in this one, and Guillermo Diaz Graham defending reserve big man Ben Middlebrooks did not go much better. Federiko battled, however and came up with a big stop late in the game. But this continues to be a concern moving forward for this team.
Cleaning up the glass: Despite NC State getting a lot of easy looks inside, one area where Federiko and the whole team thrived was the rebounding department. Pitt won the rebounding battle 37-28 and NC State only collected seven offensive rebounds for the game. Federiko led the way there with 10 boards, but Carrington grabbing 7 of his own should not be overlooked.
Heating up in February: In Jeff Capel’s first four seasons as Pitt’s head coach, the Panthers had a collective 6-24 February record. This has been the month where seasons die for this team, but the trend changed last year. Pitt went 6-1 in February last year and is 3-0 so far this season.
The Implications: Pitt is starting to find itself as a team. The Panthers have now won five of six and three in a row. Pitt has a little breather before closing out with eight regular season games. Suddenly checking the bracketology projections and NET rankings feels relevant for this team. NC State entered Wednesday 78th in the NET rankings, which does not qualify as a Quad-1 win. So Pitt should hope the Wolfpack can string together some wins so it can eventually turn into a Quad-1 win.
Up next: Pitt is off this weekend, but will return to action on Tuesday against a tough Virginia team. The Cavaliers are not ranked nationally, but still sit in second place in the ACC standings and are a top-40 NET team. It presents Pitt with an opportunity to secure another big win.
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