Just after the tip-off of Pitt men’s basketball (21-10, 12-8 ACC) against NC State, Wake Forest defeated Clemson. If the Panthers beat the Wolfpack on Saturday night they would lock in the No. 4 seed in the ACC tournament.
The Panthers handled business on Senior Night, defeating the Wolfpack 81-73 and sending their graduating players off with one last win in front of their home crowd fans.
When asked if Pitt should make the NCAA tournament, NC State head coach Kevin Keatts was straightforward with his response.
“Yeah I think they deserve it,” Keatts said.
One of those graduating players, senior forward Blake Hinson finished with 21 points. First-year guard Carlton “Bub” Carrington finished with a team-high 23 points.
Despite the high stakes, the Panthers started slow, and scoring came from an unfamiliar source. Junior center Federiko Federiko scored the Panthers’ first four points with a dunk and a layup.
But on the defensive end, Federiko struggled to contain graduate student forward D.J. Burns Jr. scored four points of his own through the first 4:23.
Hinson’s senior night started slow with three points on 1-for-4 shooting.
Both teams found success in the paint and kept attacking it. The Panthers scored 12 points in the paint through the first 10 minutes of the first half. But the Wolfpack scored 14, which helped them get out to a 21-19 lead.
The Panthers’ 13th and 14th points scored in the paint came from first-year guard Jaland Lowe on a layup to tie the game at 21.
The Panthers and Wolfpack exchanged layups before Lowe broke the tie with a three-pointer. The Panthers followed this up with two acrobatic layups from junior guard Ishmael Leggett and redshirt junior forward Zack Austin to cement a 10-3 run.
Outside of Burns, Pitt had no trouble containing the Wolfpack. Burns scored or assisted 15 of NC State’s 29 first-half points.
After tying the game up at 21, the Panthers dominated the final stretch of the first half to head into the locker room with a 39-29 lead over the Wolfpack.
The Panthers started the second half just as dominant as their end to the first half. The Panthers jumped out to a 13-6 run highlighted by a windmill dunk from Austin, causing an eruption from the Oakland Zoo.
After a Wolfpack timeout, Leggett nailed a mid-range jump shot. But after this, the Panthers’ offense dried up. A 3:20 scoring drought allowed the Wolfpack to bring the game within 10 points.
Hinson and Carrington broke the Panthers’ scoring drought themselves. Hinson started the scoring off with a layup. The duo followed this up with two consecutive three-pointers. On the next possession, Hinson scored a layup, and Carrington responded with one of his own. They continued to answer each other.
All-in-all the duo scored 16 consecutive points for the Panthers, but the Wolfpack continued to have success on offense to stay within 12 points.
With NC State hanging around, all it took was one run to get it back in a position to win. And junior guard Jayden Taylor did just that, scoring two consecutive three-pointers to cut the Panthers’ lead to 70-64.
After a Wolfpack defensive stop, Taylor was fouled on another three-point attempt, putting him at the free-throw line. Taylor went 2-for-3 to cut the Panthers’ lead to four.
On the next possession, Taylor was fouled again, this time by Leggett. This was Leggett’s fifth foul, and he finished with nine points and eight rebounds.
Pitt fouled Taylor once again on the next possession, sending him to the line for two free throws. Taylor nailed one of the two attempts to cut the deficit to 70-67.
Federiko scored on a putback attempt, and after a defensive stop, Carrington nailed a three-pointer to give Pitt an eight-point lead.
But the Wolfpack weren’t done fighting. Taylor nailed another three-pointer to bring the game within five. Taylor finished with 28 points with 22 of them coming in the second half.
But the Panthers put the nail in the coffin on an and-one lob pass from Carrington to sophomore forward Guillermo Diaz Graham to extend the Panthers’ lead back to eight with 45 seconds left.
The Wolfpack continued to fight, but the deficit was too much to overcome.