The Pitt Panthers defeated the Florida State Seminoles by a score of 73-64. The Panthers improved to 12-5 and 2-2 in the ACC. Florida State drops to 9-8 and 1-3 in ACC play.
Pitt started their game against Florida State much like their previous three ACC contests. They did not play well on the offensive or defensive side of the ball, but a funny thing happened on the way to a Pitt victory. The Seminoles went on a 13-2 run to take a 18-10 lead against the Panthers. With Florida State having three 7 footers Pitt was undersized and outmatched early. Dixon switched to a zone defense and some full court pressure and the Panthers steadily started to pick up their play.
Once Pitt settled down and stated playing defense and rebounding the Panthers took a 33-32 halftime lead. With the game tied at 41-41 in the second half, walk on Aron Phillips-Nwankwo made a layup and one. Nwankwo followed that up with a thunderous dunk that sent the Oakland Zoo into a frenzy. After the dunk Pitt looked like, well Pitt looked like Pitt again. The Panthers went on a 16-3 run to take control of the game. The walk-on, who his teammates call Dr. A because of his Pre-Med major, may have turned around the Pitt season. Nwankwo had a career high 7 points.
Michael Young lead the Panthers with 16 points and 12 rebounds and Chris Jones scored 15 points including a spectacular dunk in the first half. Jamel Artis chipped in 13 and Cam Wright added 10 for the Panthers. Young and Jones looked the best they have all year. Jones took the ball to the rim with aggression and Young battled the trees of FSU all night.
After an embarrassing showing on the boards against Clemson, Pitt managed to outrebound the much bigger Seminoles 39-31. They held FSU without a field goal over a 8:50 stretch in the second half. Pitt shot 43.6% for the game and for the first time in ACC play they scored more than 65 points.
Florida State is not a very good basketball team but after struggling so much in ACC play it was nice to see the Panthers look good again. They played very well defensively, especially in the second half. Offensively they were very balanced and looked much more aggressive on both ends of the court.
Notes
The win was number 300 for Jamie Dixon the 17th fastest coach to reach that milestone.
James Robinson left briefly from what looked like a leg injury. He returned and did not appear to be injured.
Sheldon Jeter only played 4 minutes and did not contribute any points or rebounds.
Pitt plays GT on Saturday at the Pete in what has to be a must win game.