Men’s Basketball: Pitt overcomes lackadaisical play, tops Georgia Tech

As the basketball slipped out of redshirt senior forward Lamar Patterson’s fingertips with a little more than a minute to play in the first half of the Pitt men’s basketball game, his body seemed to freeze in bewilderment, and his arms reached out before him.

Georgia Tech guard Corey Heyward dashed the opposite direction with the ball, eventually finishing the play with a layup. The Yellow Jackets led, 35-30.

Patterson had four miscues, nearly matching his season-high turnover total within the game’s first 20 minutes, and shot 0-5 in the first half, but he wasn’t the only Panther who looked confused. 

In the opening frame, Pitt showed an uncharacteristic carelessness with the ball that was exemplified by seven turnovers, but the 22nd-ranked Panthers regrouped behind precise passes from Patterson to hold off Georgia Tech, 81-74, Tuesday night at Hank McCamish Pavillion in Atlanta.

The Panthers added nine first-half fouls to their sloppy play, resulting in a 35-32 deficit at the break. But with critical offensive contributions from sophomore guard James Robinson, who poured in 11 points, and fifth-year senior Talib Zanna, who had 10, Pitt remained close.

Robinson finished with a career-high 16 points and added five assists and four steals, while Zanna posted 22 points and nine rebounds. Both were consistently solid, but it took a bounce-back half from Patterson for Pitt (16-1, 4-0 ACC) to begin pulling away.

Patterson scored the Panthers’ first two points of the second half on a layup assisted by freshman forward Michael Young. Then it was the fifth-year senior forward’s turn to distribute the ball, unleashing a deep 3-pointer with 17:01 to play.

Patterson faked a jump shot, his heels barely elevating off the ground as he whipped the ball above his head, and took advantage of the split-second when Chris Bolden, his defender, bit the bait. Bolden tried to stay with Patterson, but Patterson dribbled behind his back, took a few steps, leapt and wisely opted to dish around Daniel Miller, the Yellow Jackets’ 6-foot-11 airborne center.

Even Zanna seemed surprised when Patterson’s arm twisted around Miller’s back with the ball. He fumbled it at first, but finished with a layup that sparked Pitt’s ensuing run, a 20-10 advantage over the course of about 10 minutes.

In that span, which resulted in a 59-47 Pitt lead, Patterson combined alley-oop lobs, over-the-head bullets rifled to post players and a swished 3-point jumper. His resurgent second half led to a final line of 12 points, seven rebounds, seven assists and seven turnovers.

But the Yellow Jackets (10-7, 1-3 ACC) enjoyed their own late surge. Pitt’s turnover bugaboo continued — it matched the seven first-half turnovers in the second — and most of the loose balls were coughed up late. Combined with 12 points from senior guard Trae Golden in the last 1:26, Georgia Tech creeped as close as four points from Pitt with 28 seconds to play.

The Panthers sank their free throws down the stretch — 9-of-11 in the final 1:14 — and thwarted the home crowd’s comeback spirit.

Patterson, whose seven turnovers prove he was never at his sharpest against the Yellow Jackets, made 2-of-4 in that time frame.

Golden, who finished with 22 points, took the final shot of the game, which landed in Patterson’s arms. This time he froze with a look of relief, and the ball firmly secured in his fingertips.