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11-Seed Pitt Suffocates 6-Seed Iowa State in Round of 64 Blowout, 59-41

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GREENSBORO, N.C. — The Pitt Panthers are still dancing.

On Friday afternoon, 11-seed Pitt — led by its veterans and an outstanding defensive effort — dominated sixth-seeded Iowa State from wire-to-wire, earning its second NCAA Tournament victory in a row and advancing to the Round of 32 with the 59-41 victory.

The Panthers came out firing, opening with a stunning 22-2 run kickstarted by a Guillermo Diaz-Graham three to open the game. Blake Hinson — matching up against his former team — also added an early three, confidently sinking his from the logo. Nike Sibande — with some help from the backboard — banked in his first three-point attempt as well.

The Panthers were in great shape from the start. Iowa State had missed its first eight field goals, fouled Pitt six times, and turned the ball over three times, all in the first eight minutes of the game.

Iowa State then earned its first two buckets of the game after 11 minutes had passed by, and used them to jolt a 15-4 run of its own to climb back in.

By the half, the Cyclones had trimmed Pitt’s lead to seven. The Panthers failed to hit a field goal in the final six minutes of the half, and the Cyclones cut right into the deficit to make this one a ballgame heading into the latter frame. At the break, Jamarius Burton and Diaz-Graham led the Panthers with seven points apiece, while Sibande and Greg Elliott followed with four.

After a sloppy first five minutes, Pitt regained the momentum early in the second behind a hungry Nelly Cummings, who used an and-one floater and a deep three to create a 6-2 run of his own to open the frame.

While Cummings led the early run, the Panthers could not take care of the ball throughout the following minutes. Luckily for Jeff Capel and company, the Cyclones were just as cold. While Pitt turned the ball over four times in a five-minute span almost mid-way through the half, the Cyclones missed 11 straight shots from the field, turning this one into an absolute slugfest.

Hinson missed his first four three-point tries of the latter half, but hit two big free throws with just over ten minutes to go to extend Pitt’s lead back up to 14, 40-26.

However, things soon went a bit sour for the Panthers. Hinson picked up a technical foul for flopping after a three-point attempt, then shortly after picked up his fourth personal foul. Next, Burton and the Panthers failed to get the ball over half court in time, resulting in a 10-second violation.

With just over seven minutes remaining, Pitt snapped out of its cold streak with a beautiful give-and-go between the Panthers’ youngest players: the Diaz-Graham twins. Guillermo passed it to Jorge on the wing, then immediately cut to the rim. Jorge found him, Guillermo threw down the slam, and the Pitt fans in attendance were on their feet.

Cummings followed with another huge layup, extending Pitt’s lead back up to 14 and forcing Iowa State’s TJ Otzelberger to take a timeout.

While Pitt stayed consistent on both ends, the Cyclones struggled mightily. Iowa State hit just two of its first 22 field-goal tries in the second half, failing to gain any momentum throughout the half.

With just under five minutes to play and all the momentum leaning towards the Panthers, Pitt closed out the win with a huge 10-0 run, taking the score from 40-30 to 50-30. Pitt’s Sibande elevated for a massive three pointer from the corner — on which he earned an extra free throw as well — to extend the lead to 20.

Pitt closed out the victory with a transition bucket from Elliott and game-clinching free throws from.

The upset was complete. Pitt looked like the better team from the moment the ball was tipped. For the Panthers, Cummings finished with 13 points to lead the way, followed by Burton’s 11 and Elliott’s 10. Pitt won the rebounding battle 39-36.

With the win, Pitt improves its record to 24-11 on the year and advances to play head coach Sean Miller and the 3-seed Xavier Musketeers in the round of 32 on Sunday, March 20, once again in Greensboro.

Sandy Schall, Coldwell Banker
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