Basketball: Panthers get revenge over Butler

For the second straight year, the fate of the Pitt men’s basketball team’s season rested in… For the second straight year, the fate of the Pitt men’s basketball team’s season rested in two Butler foul shots.

This year, the door stayed open.

With the game tied at 52 and the ball in Butler’s possession, J.J. Moore committed a foul that sent freshman Roosevelt Jones to the line. He missed both attempts, and the game went to overtime. From there, it took Tray Woodall’s five points to lead Pitt to a 68-62 victory and a trip to the CBI tournament finals.

Pitt will face the winner of Oregon State and Washington State in a best-of-three championship series beginning on March 26.

Against Butler, players returning for the Panthers next season scored 66 of the team’s 68 points.

Pitt jumped out to a quick 5-0 lead, but it took the team until the 10-minute mark to score another five points. Butler took advantage of the Panthers’ poor shooting and mounted an 8-0 run capped off by Kyle Marshall’s back-door alley-oop jam.

Pitt failed to find its touch early. Senior Ashton Gibbs and Woodall went 0 for 7 from the field in the first half, with Gibbs accounting for six misses. The Panthers’ starting five combined for seven points on 3-of-14 shooting. Gibbs went scoreless and senior Nasir Robinson finished with two points.

With the starters struggling, Pitt’s bench revived the offense.

Sophomore Talib Zanna dominated the paint as he logged five points and five rebounds, and freshman Cameron Wright added four first-half points and six for the game.

But it was Moore who provided the biggest spark. In what was perhaps a symbolic exchange, the freshman corralled a lob pass from Gibbs — a senior — and slammed it. Moore then knocked down a 3-pointer with 25 seconds remaining to give Pitt a 26-24 lead at the half.

Moore’s 10 points led the Panthers in the first half.

Zanna finished with 15 points and eight rebounds, while sophomore Lamar Patterson added a double-double with 13 points — including a 3-pointer that tied the game with 32 seconds remaining — and 10 rebounds.

When it was all said and done, Pitt’s only seniors on the stat sheet combined to go 1-of-16 from the field. Fortunately, the Panther youth prevented the poor performance from being its last performance.