On Wednesday night in Tallahassee, a resurgent Ithiel Horton knocked down a season-high seven three pointers and led Pitt to a 56-51 victory over Florida State.
After Femi Odukale missed a free throw with just over a minute left, Florida State’s Wyatt Wilkes drained a three, cutting Pitt’s lead to just three. The Panthers then looked to Jamarius Burton, who has carried them all season late in games, for a big shot to snap its four-game losing streak.
Burton, on an isolation play, dribbled the ball up for the Panthers and went to his bread and butter: the mid range jumper.
Burton drained the shot, which was his fourth make in a row, and put the Panthers up by five. After Florida State got a bucket and fouled Pitt, Burton stepped up to the line and knocked down two free throws, sealing the win for Pitt and snapping the team’s winless streak.
After a low-scoring first half from both teams, Horton, who had made just one three in his last three games, decided it was time to break out and lead the Panthers to their first true road win of the season.
Horton attacked from the minute the game tipped off, hitting his first three 55 seconds into the game to put the Panthers ahead 3-2. After a low-scoring first half for both teams, he led the Panthers to a one-point lead, 21-20, with eight points at the break. In the second half, he knocked down five of his seven three-point attempts and scored 17 points to take down the Seminoles. Horton finished with a team-high 25 points on 8-for-16 shooting.
Burton followed up Horton with 13 points on 5-for-9 shooting for Pitt.
Pitt’s Mo Gueye blocked eight shots, giving him sole place for second in Pitt single game history.
Florida State made just 16 of its 56 field-goal attempts, a 29 % mark, in the loss. Guard Caleb Mills led the Seminoles with 19 points on 6-for-16 shooting. With the loss, Florida State has now fallen in five-straight games.
Pitt (9-16, 4-10 ACC) will now return home for a day game on Saturday, as it hosts NC State (10-15, 3-11 ACC) at 3 p.m. at the Petersen Events Center. That game will be televised on ACC Network.
Great defense & outstanding coaching. Third game in five days & Pitt came ready to play in a historically tough venue. Hats off to Capel for outcoaching Hamilton.
Hortons hot shooting could have been really important if he was playing on an acc leading pitt team led by Johnson, Toney, and champagne.
Johnson could screw up a one car funeral that’s why he’s gone. Toney was a loss and you should be use to players jumping to the pro leagues with eligibility remaining.
I see from the box scores, we coached Florida State into shooting as poorly as we normally do. Not a great long term winning formula. But I’ll take it.
So, you’re saying Pitt needs to rely on the other team missing two starters and shooting under 30% to barely win. Yeah, don’t sign me up for that!
And why did FSU shoot under 30%? I know it’s hard for some people to give Pitt any credit but defense travels & that was the key factor for a good road win.