Pitt Pulls Away from Georgia Tech, Advances in ACC Tournament

The Pitt Panthers won a game in the ACC Tournament for the first time in three years.

GREENSBORO -- The Pitt Panthers got off to a hot start, allowed it to get close late, but eventually pulled away from Georgia Tech to earn their first ACC Tournament win since 2020. Behind four 3-pointers from Greg Elliot and 21 points from Jamarius Burton, Pitt came up with just enough buckets to overcome some poor defense and earn an 89-81 victory in the postseason. 

The Panthers and Yellow Jackets traded leads for the first four minutes. Georgia Tech made it's first two attempts from 3-point range and Federiko Federiko scored four points in the early going as Pitt arrived at the first media timeout with a 9-8 lead. 

Then, behind Greg Elliot's first triple of the day and more comfortable jumpers from Burton's favorite spot at the elbow, Pitt jumped out to a 19-12 lead by the under-12 minute media timeout. Federiko and Burton led the way with six points each. 

The Yellow Jackets clawed back into the game on the strength of their defense. Using an extended zone defense to apply some pressure, Georgia Tech held Pitt without a field goal for nearly four minutes. They got to within three of the Panthers after a triple from Deebo Coleman with 8:49 to go until halftime. 

But that was as close as they would get in the first half. Federiko continued to be too much for Ja'von Franklin to handle, scoring, passing and rebounding with ease. He tallied 13 first half points, five rebounds and an assist. He made plays off the dribble, shot 5-5 from the field and made three of four free throws. He was a big reason why the Panthers opened up leads as large as 13 before halftime. 3-pointers from Blake Hinson and Elliot helped as well. 

After entering halftime trailing 44-31, the Yellow Jackets came out of halftime hot. They forced Pitt into three turnovers and made eight of their first 12 shots of he second half to pull within one at 50-49 by the 14:41 mark. After going scoreless in the first half, leading scorer Miles Kelly awoke to score a quick five points. 

Georgia Tech took their first lead of the game with 12:55 to go in the second half after Kelly drove and took a hit from Federiko, but still finished the layup. He made the ensuing free throw to make it a 21-6 run in the second half and put the Yellow Jackets up 52-50. 

After the under-12 media timeout in the second half, the Panthers were able to stabilize things with a couple stops and scores but the game lead to swing back and forth. 

Elliot hit a desperately-needed triple from the corner - his third of the game - with 8:45 to play and stretched the lead back to two possessions at 63-59. Franklin continued to dominate inside, scoring easily against the Panthers' bigs and gathering offensive rebound after offensive rebound to give his team extra possessions. 

Pitt began to create some separation thanks to Ellito's shooting. He hit a pair of big triples to extend the lead to as much as five and a Guillermo Diaz Graham dunk - coming off a Tech turnover - put the Panthers up seven with 6:31 to play. 

The Panthers made seven of nine field goal attempts from the 8:40 mark to the 3:55 mark and built a lead as large as nine before five quick points from Kyle Sturdivant and Coleman cut the deficit to just four. 

Burton became Pitt's closer, scoring an and-1 fadeaway from inside the paint to put his team up 82-75 with 1:21 to play. Sturdivant responded with a jumper to make it a four-point advantage again, but Hinson hit a 3-pointer with 41 seconds to go that put the Panthers up 85-77. 

Pitt led by six with just 30 seconds left and Nelly Cummings drew a foul coming up the court, but missed the front end of the 1-and-1. Sturdivant came down and scored quickly to make it a 85-81 with 22 seconds to go. 

The Panthers broke the press effectively on their next possession and Tech sent Elliot to the line for two shots, where he put the game on ice with two free throws and a clutch defensive rebound on the ensuing possession. 

Federiko Federiko finished with 19 points and eight rebounds on perfect shooting from the floor. Hinson chipped in 12 points and nine rebounds, too. Burton added eight assists as well. 

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