Pitt head coach Jamie Dixon coaches up his No. 1 seeded Panthers against No. 16 seed UNC Asheville. Pitt won the first round Southeast Regional match-up 74-51 to move on and play No. 8 seed Butler on Saturday.
The Pittsburgh Panthers took care of business like a No. 1 seed should- show no mercy. After starting slow, the Panthers (29-5) came out in the second half, put on a Big East basketball clinic and schooled UNC Asheville (20-15) all the way to 74-51 second round knock-out.
To put it simply, Pitt was too big and too physical. Pittsburgh, who was knocked out of the Big East tournament exactly one week ago, looked rusty in the first half and allowed the Bulldogs to keep the game relatively close. Pitt captured it's largest lead of the first half when the Panther's jumped out to 23-11 lead with 7:42 left to go. The Bulldogs fought their way back to a respectable five point deficit down 30-25 heading into the half.
And then, the Big East clinic began. Pitt was lead by Ashton Gibbs' 26 points while Gary McGhee lead the Panthers with 11 rebounds to go with his seven points. Pitt dominated the boards with 44 to the Bulldog's 24 and ended the game with more offensive rebounds, 27, than UNC Ashville had total rebounds. At one point in the second half, Pitt had more rebounds than the Bulldogs had points. Pitt went on a 21-6 run that took the better part of nine minutes to put the game out of reach with a little more than five minutes left to go.
Almost as important as winning was how Pitt would win. Style points by a No. 1 seed goes a long way in getting confidence restored to a team who lost 3 of 6 down the stretch, including a one-and-done performance in the Big East Tournament . This win also will help to repair the reputation of being labeled as a tournament bracket buster. A lot can also be said about the officiating too. The officials let the teams play and at times it seemed like a Big East Conference game as bodies bounced around hardwood.
The Panther's can now take a deep breath and focus on playing Butler. Saturday's Bulldogs beat Old Dominion, 60-58, in a last second Matt Howard tip-in to avoid OT. Butler was the darling of last years tournament losing to Duke 61-59 in the championship game.
The results to last opinion poll: Which Big East team would be the last one in the NCAA Tournament? UCONN with 66% and Pitt with 33%. Thanks, the new poll is up!
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