A 16-0 second-half run vaulted host Pittsburgh to a 79-64 victory over Atlantic Coast Conference foe Virginia Tech Saturday night.
The Panthers (18-9, 9-7 ACC) were paced by Blake Hinson’s 22-point showing. He also had three rebounds, while Jaland Lowe added 18 points and six assists. Ishmael Leggett had 13 points and six boards as a reserve.
For the visitors, Sean Pedulla had a game-high 26 points and also had eight rebounds. Mylyjael Poteat totaled 10 points and seven boards.
With 15:18 to play, Leggett came off the bench to make it 46-42, then Carlton Carrington added to the edge with a layup on the team’s following possession — his first shot attempt of the game. The two would each add another bucket over the next minute-plus.
Lowe, who began the surge by tying the score at 42, added another basket, then Guillermo Diaz Graham’s 3-pointer opened up a 16-point advantage. Poteat finally put a stop to the Hokies’ five-minute dry spell after that.
Lowe’s break-away lay-in pushed the Panthers’ lead to 77-57 with 3:30 to play.
Pitt jumped out to a 7-0 lead early, including a logo 3-pointer by Hinson, then went quiet for more than five minutes after. Meanwhile, Pedulla got his Hokies going by scoring the game’s next six points.
Virginia Tech (15-12, 7-9) would take three brief leads before the Panthers’ Zack Austin knocked down a trey with 9:44 gone by in the first half. That spurred another 7-0 run by Pitt, and the Panthers held the lead until a Pedulla 3-pointer tied it at 34 with 54 seconds left in the period. Hinson and Hunter Cattoor traded trips to the free-throw line after that to account for a 36-36 count at the midway point.
Both sides shot well in the initial 20 minutes, as Virginia Tech went 15-for-30 (50 percent) and the Panthers 12 of 25 (48 percent).
–Field Level Media
