Pitt Falls to Florida in Physical Matchup

Nothing came easily for the Pitt Panthers as they lost to Florida in a physical matchup.

PITTSBURGH -- The Pitt Panthers walked into the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York expecting to face their biggest challenge of the season - both in terms of size and skill - when they faced the Florida Gators in the opening round of the NIT Season Tip-Off. 

They got all of that and more from the Gators and looked game for at least the first half, but the wear and tear of a physical game against their first high-major opponent of the year took a toll on the Panthers, who led for the first 15 minutes of the game before unraveling and ultimately suffering their first defeat of the season, 86-71 to Florida. 

The Panthers lost the tip but scored first on a layup from Ishmael Leggett and built a 7-0 lead in less than 90 seconds behind a mid-range jumper from Bub Carrington and a bank shot triple from Blake Hinson. Tyrese Samuel answered with a pair of short-range buckets to bring the Gators back within a possession at 7-4, but two more layups from Leggett and Zack Austin had Pitt ahead 11-4 at the first media break. 

The Panthers stretched their lead to 19-10 by the 11:54 mark behind a pair of 3-pointers - another from Hinson and one from Will Jeffress, who came off the bench to nail his first triple of the season. At the same time, Pitt had held the Gators to 28.6% shooting by the second media break to help grow the lead. 

Florida responded with a 10-1 run to tie the game at 20. Will Richard made three free throws in a row and scored a layup to spark the run and Walter Clayton Jr. chipped in a 3-pointer and a layup before the two squads arrived at the under-eight minute media timeout knotted at 22. 

The same frantic pace that had favored the Panthers early and allowed them to build a comfortable lead began to cost them in the form of poor shots taken against a throng of long Florida defenders in the middle of the paint. They did not lead at all through the first 17 minutes of play but the Gators battled to ties of 24-24 and 27-27. 

Hinson's third triple of the evening from deep on right wing gave Pitt a 30-27 lead with 3:09 left to play in the first half but the back-and-forth affair continued. Jaland Lowe scored his first bucket of the game at the 2:35 mark and Leggett hit a pair of free throws to put the Panthers ahead 34-31 with 93 seconds left until halftime. But Florida closed the half by scoring eight consecutive points - five off of two Pitt turnovers from Hinson and Carrington and three more on a buzzer-beating triple from Thomas Haugh to reach intermission leading 39-34. 

The Panthers came out of halftime attacking and an elegant drive from Hinson then a 3-pointer from Leggett tied the game at 39 less than 90 seconds into the second half. Guillermo Diaz Graham hit a 3-pointer from the top of the key to put the Panthers ahead 42-41 at the 17:01 mark of the second half but Clayton sparked a 10-2 run for the Gators with a pair of 3-pointers that forced Jeff Capel to call timeout with 15:00 left and the Panthers trailing 51-44. 

Leggett came out of the timeout with a 3-pointer from the corner - keyed by an offensive rebound from Guillermo Diaz Graham - to cut Pitt's deficit to 51-47. Then Riley Keugel responded with an and-1 layup with 13:00 left in regulation 

After the timeout, Hinson had a chance to cut a seven-point advantage for the Gators down to four after he was fouled shooting a 3-pointer, but he missed all three shots with 11:50 to play in regulation.

After Lowe turned the ball over looking for Hinson in the corner, Florida extended their lead to nine behind a pair of free throws from Zyon Pullin. After a fast break bucket from Samuel and another layup from Pullin, the Gators opened up a 13-point lead with 9:36 to play in regulation. 

But Florida did not relent on the offensive end, keeping the pressure on Pitt by scoring six of the next eight points to push their advantage even further to 66-51. 

Austin did his best to try and will the Panthers back into the game, sandwiching a triple from Carrington around two tough layups to keep his team in the game. But Pitt routinely failed to get stops on the other end. Florida matched every push from their opponents with a timely bucket or free throws and they held tight to a 13-point lead as the final media timeout of the game hit with 3:30 left in regulation. 

Pitt cut the deficit to as little as 10 inside a minute left in regulation, but the Gators lead proved too much to overcome as they cruised to a double-digit victory 

The Panthers' three big stars - Hinson, Leggett and Carrington - each scored in double figures but did it on a combined 17-45 (37.8%) shooting from the field. Meanwhile, the bench contributed just 11 points, while the Gators got 28 points from their reserves. 

Clayton and Samuel carried the offensive load for the Gators, scoring 28 and 20 points, respectively. Florida also out-scored the typically run-and-gun Panthers 24-2 on fastbreaks. 

The Panthers will now face Oregon State in the third-place game of the NIT Season Tip-Off on Black Friday, with tip-off scheduled for 3:00 p.m. from the Barclays Center. 

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