Much like the last several games, Pitt started last night’s game rather sluggishly in the first half. Likewise, though, Pitt played terrific basketball in the second half and walked away with a solid 81-74 win at Georgia Tech in Atlanta, GA.
Pitt’s lunch pail performance was led by the Panthers hardest low-post worker, center Talib Zanna, who scored a team-high 22 points on 8-10 shooting from the floor. But perhaps more surprising was the offensive output of point guard James Robinson, who pumped in his season-high 16 points including 5-6 from the line.
Robinson, who leads the nation in assist-to-turnover ratio per game, was once again careful with the rock and only turned it over once all night.
Pitt is now 4-0 in ACC Conference play and 16-1 overall on the season.
Pitt trailed at half 35-32 after a strong performance from Trae Golden, who also led the Yellow Jackets with 22 points of his own on 6-16 shooting including 4-10 from behind the arc. Golden, a transfer from Tennessee, played against Pitt two years ago and scored 12 points in a losing effort. This time, however, Pitt had more difficulty stopping him.
The Yellow Jackets did manage, however, to keep the game close several times in the second half with a flurry of 3 pointers. Contributions came from guard Marcus Georges-Hunt (13 points), center Daniel Miller (12 points) and forward Kammeon Holsey (12 points).
Last week’s ACC Player of the Week Lamar Patterson, though, came alive when it counted with some beautiful passes and 12 points of his own to seal the game for Pitt.
Next up: At Syracuse, 4pm EST on ESPN.