Bearcats claw Pitt on road

There’s no telling what the Big East has in store for Pitt men’s basketball any given week…. There’s no telling what the Big East has in store for Pitt men’s basketball any given week.

Keith Benjamin’s last-second 3-point attempt was blocked, then his second attempt fell short, and Deonta Vaughn and the Cincinnati Bearcats used a 13-0 run late in the second half to knock out the No. 15-ranked Panthers, 62-59, on Saturday in Cincinnati.

It was the Bearcats’ second win against a top-25 team in eight days, and the loss comes five days after Pitt took down then-No. 5 Georgetown last Monday.

Vaughn went 10 for 13 from the free-throw line and finished with 14 points, while the Panthers (15-3, 3-2 Big East) struggled all game to find their shooting touch and couldn’t quite seem to dig their way out of foul trouble for the majority of the game.

Sam Young, averaging 17.9 points per game heading into the matchup, led the Panthers with 24 points and nine rebounds. But DeJuan Blair stumbled into two early fouls, and after riding the bench for more than 10 minutes in the first half, was ineffective for the rest of the game.

Blair, who averaged 12.4 points and 9.8 rebounds heading into the day, finished with just four points and four rebounds in 22 minutes.

The Bearcats clawed away at Pitt early, taking advantage of a technical foul against Pitt coach Jamie Dixon and burning the Panthers defense with quick back-door cuts and off-ball screens.

Still, Pitt was able to adjust and led 28-27 at the break.

But almost immediately in the second half, Blair picked up his third foul and once again was replaced by Tyrell Biggs, who finished with six points and five rebounds in 26 minutes.

Biggs found himself in foul trouble as well, being called for his fourth with just fewer than nine minutes remaining in the game – the same time Cincinnati’s 13-point run began.

The Bearcats used that run to build a 53-40 advantage with 6:32 remaining.

But just as it looked like the Panthers were drawing dead, they used a late run of their own to cut the lead down to five with 33 seconds left.

Benjamin knocked down a 3-point jumper from the left side of the key to bring the lead down to two, and after exchanging free throws, Pitt still had one last chance.

Down three with just more than 10 seconds remaining and no time outs to use, Benjamin had a small window to shoot a 3-pointer on the left side and knock down the game-tying shot.

But Cincinnati slammed the window closed, and Benjamin’s 3-point attempt wouldn’t fall, leaving the Panthers stunned as they failed to follow up on their momentum after the win against Georgetown.

Benjamin, who cut his finger in the second half while going for a steal, finished with 11 points but didn’t look comfortable shooting or handling the ball after his injury. Still, Dixon was happy with the effort he gave.

“Keith had to get his hand stitched up, and he came back and played,” Dixon said to the Associated Press after the game.

“I’ve got to give him a lot of credit. I’m proud of him for doing that.”

Pitt shot just 3 for 17 from outside the 3-point line and hit only 10 of 16 free throws.

Ronald Ramon, who had a stellar performance against Georgetown last week when he scored 18 points, shot just 2 for 8 from the field and finished with only four points against the Bearcats.

Gilbert Brown scored eight points and added four rebounds, while knocking down all four of his free throws.

He also notched two steals, capping a solid defensive effort for the redshirt freshman.

But the Bearcats got production from too many places, and their defense proved to be too much for the troubled Pitt offense to handle.

Rashad Bishop, who averaged 5.5 points so far this year for the Bearcats, finished with 11 points and came through with a block on Keith Benjamin’s last second shot.

The Panthers play next at St. John’s on Wednesday night.