With the 1973-74 and the 2008-09 Elite Eight teams in attendance at the Petersen Events Center, Pitt men’s basketball (14-8, 5-6 ACC) tried their best to replicate those teams’ success against Notre Dame (7-15, 2-9 ACC) on Saturday evening.
The Panthers are still clawing their way into the NCAA tournament picture, but they showed signs of an elite team, defeating the Fighting Irish 70-60 for their 300th all-time victory in the Petersen Events Center.
Senior forward Blake Hinson led all Panthers’ scorers, tallying 17 points and four rebounds. First-year guard Carlton “Bub” Carrington came close behind with 16 points, one rebound and an assist.
Carrington credits his ability to score 16 points in 20 minutes to his belief in himself and his team.
“Belief in yourself and your teammates,” Carrington said. “We preach before the game, expect the best of ourselves and expect the best of your teammates and everything else will follow along.”
The Panthers started the game leaning on their first-year guards Carrington and Jaland Lowe. Six of the Panthers’ first seven shots came from the first-years.
But on these seven shots, the Panthers only accumulated six points. They stayed with the Fighting Irish on the defensive only allowing five points through the first 3:59.
The Fighting Irish responded. An over-five-minute scoring drought from the Panthers allowed Notre Dame to go on a 7-0 scoring run.
Junior guard Ishmael Leggett ended the drought as he scored an acrobatic layup. But the Panthers went on yet another drought as they didn’t score for the next 2:59. Leggett once more got the Panthers out of the slump with another acrobatic layup.
With Pitt struggling offensively Carrington got himself into foul trouble by getting two fouls within nine seconds of one another, earning himself time on the bench.
Hinson, however, was not deterred by this slow start.
“Some of the best players in the world, best teams in the world, have slow starts,” Hinson said. “It’s part of the game, just make sure you overcome the slow starts.”
Even with the Panthers struggling, they started gaining on the Fighting Irish. Pitt’s defense kept Notre Dame without a field goal for over four minutes, helping the Panthers only trail the Fighting Irish 13-10.
The Panthers failed to convert a three-pointer through the first 15:36 of the first half and broke loose of these struggles after head coach Jeff Capel trusted Carrington and inserted him back into the lineup. Pitt, which leads the ACC in threes made per game, ended the drought with two consecutive Carrington threes to give them a 21-19 lead.
Capel put Carrington back in the game due to his trust in the first-year guard. And through that belief, he has earned the right to play in these moments.
“I trust him to make plays and be smart,” Capel said. “And I think he has earned that. He hit that three that unlocked us and obviously, he is a threat for us out there.”
After getting the lead back, the Panthers kept on pushing. Hinson made his first three of the game and then followed it up with another one, giving the Panthers a 28-22 advantage at the end of the first half.
Hinson said the reason for the late first-half three-point scoring burst is because he was waiting for Carrington to score.
“I told Bub, ‘I’m waiting on you to hit a three,’” Hinson said jokingly.
Carrington, despite the foul trouble, led all scorers with 10 points. Hinson and Leggett followed behind with seven points each.
Notre Dame and first-year guard Markus Burton started the second half on a mission, tying the game up at 30 behind Burton scoring six quick points. But the Panthers responded to the adversity by making three consecutive three-point field goals and stretching their lead to 39-30. Notre Dame had to use a timeout after the Panthers’ 9-0 run.
The Fighting Irish cut the Panthers lead to five off of the timeout. The Panthers, however, responded with a 7-0 run and earned their first double-digit lead of the game, causing another Notre Dame timeout with 12:55 remaining in regulation.
After the 7-0 run, the Panthers’ offense started to falter, missing six straight shots. Despite the offensive struggles, Pitt maintained its double-digit lead, leading 51-40 at the under eight-minute media timeout.
The Panthers’ offense caught traction again after the timeout, going on a 12-6 run, almost stretching their lead to 20.
The Panthers closed the game rougher than fans would prefer, with the Fighting Irish causing multiple turnovers with their press defense. But despite this, the Panthers left the game with a victory.
The Panthers travel to Raleigh, NC Wednesday for a clash with NC State at 7 p.m. airing on ESPNU.