PITTSBURGH – Pitt continued its outstanding three-point shooting and winning ways with a 77-58 Valentine’s Day win over Boston College Tuesday night at the Petersen Events Center. Blake Hinson knocked down six three-point field goals and finished with 21 points and seven rebounds as the Panthers improved to 19-7 overall and an ACC-best 12-3 in league play.
With the win, Pitt moves a half game ahead of Virginia atop the ACC standings. The Panthers also own the tiebreaker by virtue of their 68-65 win over the Cavaliers in early January.
Pitt knocked 11 three-pointers and held the Eagles to just 33.9 percent (21-of-62) shooting from the field. The Panthers had five double-figure scorers for the second time in three games as Greg Elliott (14), Nelly Cummings (11), Jamarius Burton (10), and Federiko Federiko (10) joined Hinson with 10 or more points in the game. Cummings added a game-high eight assists, while Federiko added seven rebounds and three blocks.
Hinson knocked down a three at the 14:03 mark to spot the Panthers to an early 10-5 lead before Boston College used an 11-0 run to go up 16-10 at the 11:47 mark. Pitt responded with a 15-2 spurt to grab a 32-26 lead heading into the final media timeout of the opening half.
Hinson capped off the half with his fourth three-point field goal with 27 seconds remaining to send Pitt into halftime leading 40-31. The Deltona, Fla., native finished the opening 20 minutes with 14 points and six rebounds, while going 4-of-6 from three-point range. Elliott added eight points and a pair of threes in the first half, while Cummings had six points and six assists at the half.
Pitt used a 10-0 run early in the second half to go up 15 points with just under 13 minutes remaining. Cummings capped off the run with a floater in the lane. Hinson extended the lead to 57-41 on a corner three and capped off a four-point play coming out of the under 12 timeout.
Pitt extended its push to an 18-2 run on a slick pocket pass feed from Nike Sibande to a streaking Federiko for a two-handed dunk to give the Panthers a 62-41 lead and force a Boston College timeout with 9:30 remaining. Following a defensive stop, Elliott buried a three in transition to extend the lead.
The Panthers continued to pour it on and extended the lead to as many as 27 on a Sibande step-back jumper with 3:10 remaining. Boston College hit a couple threes in the closing minutes to trim the deficit to 19 at the final buzzer. Mason Madsen hit four three-pointers and led the Eagles with 14 points, while Jaeden Zackery added 11 points.
Pitt limited Boston College’s leading scorers Quinten Post and Makai Ashton-Langford to a combined 14 points on 5-of-17 shooting from the field. The tandem entered the night averaging 29.2 points per game.
STILL STREAKING
Pitt has now won a season-best six consecutive games, eight of nine games, and 18 of 22 games since Nov. 20.
BLAKE HIM-SON
Hinson recorded his seventh 20-point game of the season and made five or more threes in a game for the third time in ACC play. He finished 7-of-15 from the field, including 6-of-11 from three-point range.
THR3S3 PANTH3RS
Pitt went 6-of-12 from three-point range in the opening half. Hinson made four consecutive threes in the half after missing his first two attempts of the game … the Panthers finished with 11 threes for the 13th game with 10 or more threes this season … Pitt has now made 246 threes (fourth most in program history).
BOARD WORK
Pitt posted a 44-35 rebounding advantage as Hinson (7), Federiko (7), Cummings (5), Burton (5), and Guillermo Diaz Graham (5) each grabbed five or more rebounds in the contest.
TAKING ADVANTAGE ON THE BREAK
The Panthers scored a season-best 24 fast break points, including 17 in the second half of play.
UP NEXT
Pitt travels to Blacksburg, Va., to face Virginia Tech Saturday, Feb. 18 (5 p.m. – ACC Network).
Source: Matt Plizgai/Pitt Athletics
Image: Instagram