The Wolfpack turned into road kill on Wednesday night.
Pitt, for the second-straight year, went down to Raleigh, North Carolina and beat NC State on its home court to earn its fifth win in its last six games and improve to 6-6 in the ACC this year.
Pitt jumped out to a 14-8 start behind two early threes from Hinson and an early slam from Bub Carrington on a fast break. The Panthers kept their foot on the gas with a fast-break bucket from Ishmael Leggett, followed by a clean layup off a drive from Carrington.
Ten minutes into the first half, the Panthers still did not have a single turnover. While Pitt thrived on the offensive end, it continued to make things tough on the other end for the Wolfpack. NC State started just 1 for 5 from three-point range. Throughout the rest of the half, Pitt withstood a tough four-minute stretch without a point and did not surrender the lead.
The Wolfpack tied the game at 30 with 3:41 to go in the half, however, Pitt stopped the bleeding shortly after with another Hinson three. The senior leader kickstarted a quick 8-0 run of Pitt’s own, and the Panthers went into the break with a 38-30 lead. Hinson, Lowe, and Carrington combined for 32 points in the first half, and Pitt won the first-half rebounding battle 18-10. For NC State, DJ Horne hit four threes in the frame, while DJ Burns scored nine points and grabbed four rebounds inside.
In the second half, Pitt’s freshmen guard duo led the Panthers out of the gates. Lowe continued his strong play with a good jump shot followed by an acrobatic and-one finish, capped off by a free throw, to extend Pitt’s run to 13-0 dating back to the first.
NC State cut Pitt’s lead back down to seven minutes on a Michael O’Connell floater with more than 16:30 remaining in the game. Shortly after, Carrington was called for an offensive foul while driving. The Wolfpack once again had momentum.
With NC State knocking on the door down just five points, Pitt’s Zack Austin grabbed an offensive rebound and quickly found space for a three-point attempt thereafter. Austin, the North Carolina native, hit his first shot of the night, draining the three and extending Pitt’s lead to 48-40.
The Wolfpack narrowed Pitt’s lead down to three with 11:03 to go in the half, and from there, NC State kept it very close. This game was going to come down to the wire.
With less than five minutes to play and the shot clock running down, Pitt’s Leggett stepped through the lane for a huge two-point bucket to put the Panthers up, 60-58. However, Horne answered immediately with a bucket of his own for his 22nd and 23rd points of the night.
After another big bucket from Leggett gave the Panthers a two-point lead with less than 3:30 to go, NC State’s Mohamed Diarra missed a wide open layup, giving Pitt the ball. Hinson was then fouled, and made one of two free throws to extend Pitt’s lead to three.
In the final minute, Pitt’s Carrington drove to the hoop up by one point. After a miss, Federiko Federiko, who had just two points leading into the possession, cleaned up the glass, grabbing an offensive rebound and putting in a layup and building Pitt’s lead to three. With five seconds to play, Pitt’s freshman Lowe, as Pitt led by one, drained both free throws to extend the lead to three. Pitt then chose to foul NC State’s O’Connell, giving NC State the chance to cut it to two, but not tie it up. O’Connell missed both free throws, and the Panthers closed out the win, 67-64.
For the Panthers, Lowe led with 20 points, while Hinson had 16 and Carrington followed with 12 of his own. As a team, Pitt shot 42% from the field, 24% from three, and made 18 of its 20 free-throw tries. Pitt out-rebounded NC State 37-28 in the effort. For the Wolfpack, the reigning ACC Player of the Week Horne led the way with 25 points, hitting five threes in the game.
Pitt is now 15-8 on the year and 6-6 in ACC play. The Panthers now have five days off before their next game against Virginia on Tuesday, Feb. 13 in Charlottesville. That game will be televised on ACC Network.
Needed that one. Keep grinding. Glad there is some time to rest before UVA. That dude Burns just single handedly took a collective 10 years off their lives.
and didn’t earn an offensive foul iirc
I know he got a few but thought his bull shoulder could’ve gotten him 1 or 2 more
Great win, young guards give hope for the future. Coach Capel please get a big man in the middle who can be a threat to score and this program will go to the next level.
unfortunately that’s true but only IF there is a future, NIL and NBA might say different 🙁
Great job at the foul line. 18-20. Good defense down the stretch, too when the offense went cold. Good road win against an above average opponent. Need to win 5-6 more games in the regular season more to have a real shot at a NCAA bid.