Inside The Panthers

Blake Hinson Says Pitt Belongs in NCAA Tournament

The Pitt Panthers deserve to return to the NCAA Tournament, according to Blake Hinson.

Stephen Thompson

Blake Hinson Says Pitt Belongs in NCAA Tournament
Blake Hinson Says Pitt Belongs in NCAA Tournament /
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CHARLOTTESVILLE -- The Pitt Panthers kept their hot streak rolling with another impressive road win against a ranked ACC foe, this time beating No. 21 Virginia soundly inside John Paul Jones Arena, where the Cavaliers had won 23 straight games. 

The Panthers had America's interest when they knocked off then-No. 7 Duke and proceeded to win five of their next six and after snapping Division I's longest home winning streak, they have college basketball's attention. Some believe Pitt deserves to be back on the NCAA Tournament bubble but superstar Blake Hinson believes they "100%" deserve to be in the field. 

“This team is playing at an NCAA Tournament level and an ACC Championship level," Hinson said. "So we just got to keep that up if we want to keep winning. You can’t do it playing any other way.”

MORE: Blake Hinson Powers Pitt to Upset Win Over No. 21 Virginia

Hinson scored 27 points against the Cavaliers' vaunted packline defense. He made five of 13 3-point attempts and was simply unguardable for most of the evening. 

Pitt head coach Jeff Capel, on the other hand, wasn't ready to declare his team an NCAA Tournament squad just yet. He's only focused on this weekend's game against Louisville and continuing to stack wins. 

"It’s a lot of season left, man, it’s a lot. I think we played really well tonight. We’re playing well," Capel said. "And all we’re trying to do is, we’re 1-0 right now. We’ll enjoy tonight, be off tomorrow, then Thursday start getting ready for Louisville and hopefully after Saturday we can be 1-0."

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Stephen Thompson
STEPHEN THOMPSON

Stephen Thompson graduated with a bachelor's degree in communications and political science from Pitt in April 2022 after spending four years as a sports writer and editor at The Pitt News, the University of Pittsburgh's independent, student-run newspaper.  He primarily worked the Pitt men's basketball beat, and filled in on coverage of football, volleyball, softball, gymnastics and lacrosse, in addition to other sports as needed. His work at The Pitt News has won awards from the Pennsylvania News Media Association and Associated College Press.  During the spring and summer of 2021, Stephen interned for Pittsburgh Sports Now, covering baseball in western Pennsylvania. Hailing from Washington D.C., family ties have cultivated a love of Boston's professional teams and Pitt athletics, and a fascination with sports in general.  You can reach Stephen by email at stephenethompson00@gmail.com and follow him on Twitter. Read his latest work:

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