Men’s basketball: Panthers outlast Texas, win 2K Sports Classic

The Pitt men’s basketball team beat Texas Friday night giving it a 5-0 record that no other… The Pitt men’s basketball team beat Texas Friday night giving it a 5-0 record that no other collegiate team in the country has matched this year.

The Panthers beat the Texas Longhorns 68-66 in Madison Square Garden last night. The game was the championship round of the 2K Sports Classic, which benefits Coaches vs. Cancer.

Two players led the charge for the Panthers — junior point guard Ashton Gibbs and junior forward Nasir Robinson.

Robinson had been out with a knee injury and hadn’t seen action until the tournament, but with limited minutes Robinson has played well and continued his trademark hustle and toughness, contributing nine points in only his second game back.    

Gibbs had scored 12 and then 13 points in the games leading into the Texas game. But against Texas he was more aggressive in taking shots and led the team with 24 points while pulling down four rebounds. 

“It’s great to do it in front of my home crowd, in New York – it’s where I dreamed to play my whole life,” Gibbs said. “This is like a second home for us. We have a lot of guys from the metropolitan area. It’s great for them.”

A key point in the game came with 2:26 left when Gibbs drew a foul while making a basket. After the three-point play, Texas drew within one, 63-62. Two possessions later, Gibbs hit a spot up three-pointer to extend Pitt’s lead to four points

Texas was led by sophomore Jordan Hamilton, who finished with 28 points, eight rebounds and one assist. 

With his team down 10, with just a little more than seven minutes to play, Hamilton scored 12 points to pull his team back into the game.

 The game came down to the last shot, with Travon Woodall missing the first free throw of a one-and-one, and Texas got the ball back with 11 seconds left and no timeouts. The Longhorns drove it down the court but with five seconds left, Cory Joseph took an ill-advised drive to the basket and threw up an over the shoulder shot that was off the mark and Robinson got the rebound to seal the win for the Panthers.

“I knew there was a couple of seconds left and I was trying to get the ball and make a play for the team, and it didn’t happen,” Joseph said. “I had the ball in my hands but it didn’t happen. I was aware of the time. It was just a learning experience and I have to get better.”

The Panthers earned their seat in the championship game after beating Maryland 79-70, and the Longhorns made their way to the final game by beating Illinois 90-84.

It had been a year since the Panthers played the Longhorns. Last season, Texas was ranked third in the nation and beat the Panthers 78-62.

With Friday’s win over Texas, Pitt will now look forward to a relatively soft schedule until they play Tennessee on Dec. 11.

Madison Square Garden was once again good to the Panthers and the team will head back there Feb. 19 when they take on St. John’s.