I don’t even know how to feel about Pitt pulling off a 61-60 OT win against the Boston College Eagles last night. The old saying goes a win is a win so I will gladly take the win. There were times that Pitt looked as bad as they had ever been under Jamie Dixon. The Panthers had a stretch of 8:44 were they did not score a single point and they trailed 53-43 with 3 minutes on the clock. The Panthers, to their credit never gave up and went on a 10-0 run, scoring six points in the final 59 seconds of regulation. They tied it when Josh Newkirk stole a BC pass near halfcourt and took it the distance for a layup with 31.2 seconds to play. They found themselves down 60-55 in OT but scored the last 6 point, including the last 2 by Josh Newkirk, again on a layup, with 5.5 seconds left. BC missed two shots near the rim to end the game and giave Pitt an improbable win.
Boston College is a bad basketball team and did everything they could in giving the game away to Pitt, but give the Panthers credit for making plays down the stretch to steal the win. Pitt has often been on the other side of this story. Josh Newkirk had 15 points and 7 assist. He scored the game tying and game winning baskets using his quickness to get to the rim for layups both times. Sheldon Jeter had 11 points and 8 rebounds and for the first time really looked good. Chris Jones, Jamel Artis, and Cameron Wright combined for 8 points. The Panthers can not have three of their starters combine for single digit point production and win in the ACC. Michael Young had 15 points and James Robinson had 8 for the Panthers.
It was great to see Sheldon Jeter be a major factor on the court. He even looked good on the defensive side of the ball. Dixon had sat him early in the year because his defense was not good enough. I though Joseph Uchebo played a really nice game too. He only had 4 points and 4 rebounds but played with an energy that got the Panthers going during a stretch in the first half. You can tell watching the game that he really labors up and down the court and appears to run with a hitch in his step due to the knee injury. The kid has worked hard and he has shown flashes of why he was once a top recruit.
The win evens the Panthers record at 1-1 in ACC play. Pitt has defended better in recent games but the offense is a major concern. There is no real consistent scorer on this roster. The loss of Durand Johnson and Dixon’s inability to recruit a big time scorer is going to really handicap this team. Dixon has won with developing players that get better each year and having tough experienced teams. With a number of kids leaving the program early and the team being so young this Pitt team does not have that senior leadership that past teams have had. They struggled with BC, they looked awful for long stretches, but they won. That is all that matters.
Notes:
The OT win was Pitt’s 7th straight win in overtime
The win puts the Panthers at 11-4 and 1-1 in the ACC
Pitt plays Clemson at the Pete on Saturday