Pitt Survives Sloppy Start, Beats SC State

The Pitt Panthers looked rusty coming off six days of rest but rallied to blowout SC State.

PITTSBURGH -- Coming off a six-day break for finals week, the Pitt Panthers looked rusty early against South Carolina State. 

They were getting outrebounded and turning the ball over frequently, but a dominant run late in the first half and the beginning of the second half opened up a 20-point lead that sustained them all the way through to a 86-50 win over the Bulldogs at the Petersen Events Center. 

Pitt, sporting a new starting lineup with Guillermo Diaz Graham and Will Jeffress in for Federiko Federiko and Zack Austin, won the tip and got out to a fast start, with Diaz Graham scoring the first points of the game on a short layup. Ishmael Leggett hustled for a steal and scored two more in transition. The Panthers led 8-2 with 16:37 left in the first half after Blake Hinson scored four in a row off free throws and a transition layup. 

Some tough shot making from Atiba Taylor and Michael Teal got SC State back into the mix and made it a 13-9 game by the first media timeout of the first half. 

Taylor knocked down another jump shot with 11:30 left to keep the Bulldogs within striking distance at 17-11 with 11:30 to go in the first half, but he picked up a technical foul after the bucket and Leggett canned one of two free throws. 

The Panthers started to struggle as SC State employed a full court press to slow down a fast-moving Pitt offense, turning the ball over twice in as many possessions and allowing their opponents to close it to a 21-18 margin by the midway point of the first half. 

Hinson canned a triple just before the under-eight minute media timeout to push the Panthers' advantage back to six points. Taylor answered with a triple of his own and then Hinson promptly hit another after an offensive rebound by Diaz Graham. 

Jaland Lowe hit a 3-pointer - just the second made by a Pitt player not named Hinson in the first half - with 2:30 left to kickstart the offense and the Panthers, led by some more stout defense and rebounding, they opened up a 36-20 lead at halftime. SC State didn't score for the final 3:27 of the first half while Pitt went on a 15-2 run. 

After the break, SC State came out and scored the first four points of the second half, but the Panthers responded with eight points in a row of their own to open up a 44-24 lead following the first media timeout of the second half. 

Pitt went cold offensively with Hinson on the bench and the Bulldogs made small inroads on the 20-point deficit with free throws. But the Panthers responded by making five of seven shots in a row, including a couple of sorely-needed buckets from Austin and Federiko off offensive rebounds, to make it a comfortable margin again.  

The Panthers went on a 10-0 run, capped by a 3-pointer from Lowe and a loud dunk from Austin to make it a 60-33 lead with 9:12 left in regulation. He added another powerful dunk with 7:31 remaining to electrify the Petersen Events Center crowd. 

From there, the Panthers cruised to a comfortable win with mostly their bench on the floor. Michael Hueitt saw his first minutes and nailed a 3-pointer then came up with a steal and layup on the fast break. He hit another triple inside of two minutes to punctuate a strong showing off the bench. 

Ishmael Leggett filed up the box score with 14 points, six rebounds and five assists. Blake Hinson led the Panthers in scoring with 19 and Austin scored all 10 of his points in the second half. In his first start of the season, Guillermo Diaz Graham scored seven points, dealt four assists, grabbed eight rebounds and blocked two shots. 

The Panthers have just one more game left on the non-conference slate, a midweek date with Purdue-Fort Wayne at the Petersen Events Center just before Christmas. The start of ACC play is 10 days on the other side of that final buy game. 

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