Blake Hinson Shines as Pitt Demolishes Jacksonville

Blake Hinson and the Pitt Panthers put away the Jacksonville Dolphins with little issue on Friday night.

PITTSBURGH -- With the Pitt Panthers staring down arguably the toughest five-game stretch of its entire season, they took advantage of an opportunity for a tune-up against the Jacksonville Dolphins. 

The Panthers came away with a 107-56 victory in a game that they had complete control of from the opening tip. Blake Hinson built on his already-impressive campaign with 25 points on 7-of-16 shooting while Guillermo Diaz Graham recorded a career-high 23 points as Pitt came away with a season-high 15 three-pointers. The Panthers' defense was arguably the most impressive aspect of their performance, however, as they held Jacksonville to a 32.7% shooting percentage all while forcing 14 turnovers with eight blocks. 

Ishmael Leggett got the party started for Pitt as he scored the first five points of the game to help the Panthers jump out to a 9-0 lead at the first media timeout. Hinson connected on a pair of field goals for Pitt's other four points during that stretch while Zack Austin showcased his rim-protecting prowess with two blocks. 

The Panthers' defense smothered Jacksonville throughout the early portion of the game and held them without a basket until the 14:22 mark of the first half. Pitt fell into an offensive lull of its own with a 2-8 stretch out of the first media timeout, but a pair of buckets by Guillermo Diaz Graham extended the Panthers' lead to 14-2 at the second media timeout. 

Pitt caught fire out of break to the tune of an 11-0 run as Leggett, Hinson and Bub Carrington all connected on three-pointers that grew the Panthers' lead to 27-6 with 7:56 left in the first half. 

Pitt opened up a 30-point lead ahead of the final media timeout of the first half thanks to Hinson's hot shooting from behind-the-arc. The Panthers also continued their dominance around the rim with both Federiko Federiko and Diaz Graham collecting blocks as Pitt forced six-straight misses from the field by the Dolphins. 

Marcus Niblack, Jacksonville's third-highest scorer coming into the game, recorded five points in the final 2:45 of the first half but his effort did little to decrease the Dolphins' deficit as the Panthers carried a 52-22 advantage into halftime. 

Pitt shot 47.4% from the field and 41.2% from deep all while holding Jacksonville to a 24.1% shooting percentage with zero makes from three-point range in the first half. Hinson led all scorers with 21 points on 6-of-13 shooting from the floor as Diaz Graham and Leggett both registered double-digit point totals with 11 and 10, respectively. 

Neither side came out strong in the second half as they were a combined 2-of-13 for eight points in the four minutes leading up to the first media timeout of the half. The Panthers widened their lead to 57-25 during that time frame as Diaz Graham hit three free throws while Leggett converted a layup attempt. 

Pitt's freshman guards joined in on the fun as both Jaland Lowe and Carrington hit threes to grow the Panthers' lead to 66-27 with 14:01 left in the game. DeeJuan Pruitt followed that up by making four-straight free throws as part of a six-point run by the Dolphins. 

Tensions flared soon after as Jeff Capel was incensed after a hard foul against Leggett and received a technical, seemingly building on his prior frustration with the officiating as the game progressed. 

The Diaz Graham twins ignited the crowd as Jorge scored his first points of the game off of an assist from Guillermo on a give-and-go at the 10:04 mark that opened up a 72-35 lead for the Panthers. Pitt sustained its strong defensive effort by holding Jacksonville to just two field goals from the 11:00 mark until the media timeout at the 7:52 mark where it carried a 77-41 lead. 

Hinson hit his fourth three of the game before finding Jorge Diaz Graham under the rim for an easy layup with 6:04 left that extended Pitt's lead to 36 points. Zack Austin's first three of the game grew the lead to 89-50 with 4:47 left in the game as the Panthers maintained a 39-point margin going into the final media timeout of the contest.

Guillermo Diaz Graham scored five-straight points on a layup and three before Will Jeffress converted on a fast-break layup that pushed Pitt over the 100-point mark for the second time this season at the 2:10 mark. The Panthers later topped its season high as they finished the game with 107 points, putting an end to a dominant outing that leaves Pitt in good position ahead of its trip to the NIT Season Tip-Off next week. 

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