PITTSBURGH – Pitt ended a senior night celebration in style.
Hosting NC State to close the 2023-24 regular season schedule, Pitt basketball (21-10, 12-8 ACC) delivered an 81-73 win inside the Petersen Events Center to cage the Wolfpack and close the year on a three-game winning streak.
During the early portions of the first half, Pitt received the help it needed to clinch a double-bye in the ACC Tournament. Wake Forest snapped a three-game losing streak with a surprising 81-76 victory over Clemson. All Pitt needed to do was help itself and defeat NC State (17-14, 9-11 ACC).
The Panthers took care of business.
NC State worked the ball around well early as Jayden Taylor found D.J. Burns for an easy score inside the lane. The pace of play steadily favored NC State in the opening minutes, but that changed dramatically.
Pitt made three consecutive shots to tie the game at 21 with under 10 minutes remaining in the first half, paced by five from Guillermo Diaz Graham.
The Wolfpack went to the under-eight media timeout, shooting 67% (10-15) and were dynamite inside, with 16 of their 23 points coming in the paint.
The Panthers grabbed their first lead on a Jaland Lowe triple moments later to take a 26-2 advantage. Ishmael Leggett wowed the home crowd with a circus shot falling to the floor on the left side block, cashed in a fadeaway layup, and converted the ensuing free throw to convert on a three-point play. Pitt built a six-point lead (31-24) at the five-minute mark and kept its foot on the gas.
You could start to tell it was the Panthers’ night in the waning minutes of the first half. Leggett chased down a loose ball and bounced a pass to Hinson, who NC State answered with an airball on the other end.
Pitt extended the lead to double figures with a minute and a half remaining and smothered the Wolfpack defensively. NC State missed six of its last seven shots to close the first half.
The Panthers took a 39-29 lead to the break thanks to seven points each from Hinson, Lowe, and Leggett. Pitt shot 53% in the half, and the Wolfpack cooled off to 44%.
Pitt exploded in the second half. Not even four minutes into the resumption of play, Blake Hinson hit a shot a few steps from the Pitt logo, and Zack Austin slammed home a windmill dunk in transition. Pitt led 52-38.
NC State was a few steps behind the rest of the way. The Panthers maintained a steady lead halfway through the final 20 minutes of play. Hinson (14) and Carrington (11) led all scorers in points at the 11-minute mark. The duo took turns finding the bottom of the basket and helped Pitt build a 15-point lead. The margin reached as high as 17.
An 8-0 run, though, that took only a minute to amount cut the Panther lead to 70-64 with 4:39 remaining in the game. Jeff Capel called timeout, reset his group, but Jayden Taylor had other plans. Taylor made two of three shots at the line after being fouled from deep and cut it to a four-point contest. NC State once again cut the lead, this time to three, but Bub Carrington called game.
With the shot clock winding down, Carrington sunk a crucial triple to put Pitt ahead by a few possessions. Then, Carrington fed Diaz Graham for an alley-oop slam that brought the Pete to its feet.
Carrington ended the game with 23 points. Hinson ended senior day with 21 points, three rebounds, and two threes. The Panthers shot 50% for the game. Taylor led all players with 28 for NC State, which shot 46% from the floor.
With the victory, the Panthers clinched the No. 4 seed in the 2024 ACC Tournament, which begins Tuesday in Washington, D.C. The Panthers will not play until Thursday in the semifinals.
I was getting a little nervous 😓 there towards the end. Glad they were able to hold back the Wolfpack charge! Double bye in the ACC Tourney.. AMAZING! H2P!!
NC St. made a run last time they played, too. Good teams find ways to win and they did
21-10, 12-8 in the conference. Great season. The place was electric tonight. Nice night for Maleek Thomas to be there. If the committee uses common sense and does not let a computer do the thinking and eye test for you then they will be in March Madness. They are very deserving. You look at teams like Oklahoma, Villanova, St John’s, Mississippi St., etc no way they should be in ahead of Pitt. Oklahoma has a losing record in conference. Win the ACC tournament and all the number crunchers and jack asses who do the projected brackets can stuff it up… Read more »
I’m still biased and think they are in! They most likely will play Wake Forrest in the ACC tourney, beat them then Pitt SHOULD be in. However beat North Carolina, they would definitely be in. Just gotta take it one game at a time. H2P!
I agree with you. Winning it makes it automatic!
Awesome game tonight. B2 was incredible. The D was all over him and he still scored 23. What a performance. The Pete was electric and the team was tough. Whether they win in the tourney or not, I’m proud of this team and the coaching staff.
Only Pitt could be on the tourney bubble after finishing 4th in the ACC. No respect. Go back to the Big East and Madison Square Garden which is the only conference tournament that matters
Lunardi and his bunch wrote off Pitt in December before Jaland Lowe returned from injury and have egg on their collective faces. Can’t admit they made a mistake, and so the Panthers will be begrudging described a bubble team until they win the ACC tournament and knock out “a more deserving team like Dayton or Drake”. More deserving? Bull pukey.
Congratulations to all Panthers.
At the beginning of the season, the national media had PITT finishing near the bottom of the ACC. Them Boys at PITT finished in 4th place and playing their best basketball going into the ACC tournament with a double bye💪
Great win for the team … sorry that Will couldn’t get some minutes. Time to get a day or two of rest and be fresh for the tourney grind. No games will be easy. Let’s Go Men. H2P !