Pitt Overpowers Oregon State for Bounce-Back Win

The Pitt Panthers hustled their way to a win over Oregon State in the third-place game of the NIT Season Tip-Off.

PITTSBURGH -- The Pitt Panthers were pushed around in a blowout loss to Florida two days ago to open the NIT Season Tip-Off at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York and needed a bounceback in a bad way. 

They got just that in a dominating win over Oregon State. Behind a suffocating defensive effort and a concerted effort to out-hustle their opponents, Pitt strangled the Beavers and left Brooklyn with a convincing win, 76-51, a third-place finish in the NIT Season Tip-Off and some confidence restored heading back home to continue a gauntlet that includes three more in a row against Power 5 opponents. 

Oregon State won the tip and pulled ahead with a pair of free throws early, but a 3-pointer from the struggling Zack Austin and a layup from the steady Ishmael Leggett put the Panthers up 5-2 less than two minutes into the game. Blake Hinson made it a 7-0 run with a layup off an offensive rebound. Tyler Bilodeau scored consecutive buckets to bring the Beavers within one but Austin nailed another triple to put Pitt back up 10-8 by the first media timeout of the game. 

Austin stayed hot out of the break, nailing another triple and hitting a free throw to put Pitt up 14-8 with 14:22 left in the first half. The Beavers made a couple of buckets to pull within a possession at 16-13, but Hinson converted a second-chance layup and Bub Carrington converted an and-1 layup to give the Panthers more breathing room. Leggett stole an inbounds pass and made a quick layup himself to make it an 11-5 burst and an 21-13 advantage at the 11:06 mark of the first half. 

The Panthers extended the run to 12-3 over the next three minutes, thanks to some furious hustle plays on both ends. They hounded the Beavers defensively, holding them to just three points over a span of 3:35 while collecting four free throws from Hinson and Guillermo Diaz Graham and a triple from Leggett on a nice kickout pass from Hinson. 

They led 28-16 heading into the final eight minutes of the first half and continued to extend their advantage by scoring five straight points while the Beavers went scoreless for another 2:15 of game time. 

But with the Panthers having earned their largest lead of the day at 39-21, they began to slow down offensively, settling for outside shots after poor possessions. Oregon State took advantage, rattling off six points in a row to close the half and close the deficit to just 39-27 at halftime.  

Pitt came out of intermission still mired in an offensive slump. They missed five of their first seven attempts from the field after halftime, including each of their first three 3-point attempts. The good news is that Oregon State also made just two if their first seven shots after halftime and the Panthers were able to defend their 12-point lead by the 15:39 mark of the second half. 

Hinson made his first triple six seconds later, ending an 0-7 skid from deep and putting Pitt up 46-31. A put-back dunk attempt from Austin was wiped off, then overturned upon review and the Hinson added an and-1 layup to make it a 6-0 burst. Federiko added a dunk off the assist from Lowe to give the Panthers a 21-point lead, their largest of the game, with 12:05 to play in the second half. 

The Panthers and Beavers traded buckets for the next four minutes but Austin broke off a 6-2 burst from Oregon State with a powerful dunk through traffic to maintain Pitt's 20-point advantage going into the under-eight-minute media timeout. 

Pitt's relentless effort on the glass and defensively created second opportunities off of both makes and misses. Hinson hustled for an offensive rebound and created an opportunity for Leggett to earn two free throws. Then Austin stole an in-bounds pass after Leggett converted on a layup to draw a shooting foul himself and he made two free throws afterward. 

Hinson nailed another triple - his fourth of the game - to extend the Pitt lead to 24 points, the largest of the game to that point, just before the final media timeout of the second half. 

Behind more suffocating defense and some timely free throws, Pitt bled off the remainder of the clock with little resistance from the Beavers. The Panthers extended their lead as far as 25 points within the final two minutes of regulation and cruised to a much-needed victory and third-place finish at the NIT Season Tip-Off. 

Austin led the way with a breakout game that included 19 points on 5-9 shooting from the field and a 3-6 mark from 3-point distance, eight rebounds, an assist and two steals. Hinson overcame a slow start to finish with 17 points and Federiko and Leggett - who had seven rebounds as well - both scored in double-figures as well. 

The Panthers defense was outstanding, holding the Beavers to 32.7% shooting from the floor, 9% shooting from 3-point distance and 18 turnovers. They also won second-chance points 26-7 and rebounding 44-31 in a win defined by their effort and hustle. 

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