It is often said that the final four minutes of the first half and the first four minutes of the second half are the two most important stretches of a game.
That theory held true Saturday afternoon in Marquette as the No. 18 Golden Eagles blitzed No. 16 Pitt with a 17-2 combined run over that span to cruise to a 79-69 Big East Conference victory.
A big problem for the Panthers was Marquette’s Vander Blue, who scored 18 first half points and led a balanced Golden Eagles attack that couldn’t miss from the field for most of the afternoon. Marquette as a team shot 57 percent from the floor, draining 26-of-46 attempts.
Blue who scored 22 against Pitt during their first meeting at the Petersen Events Center made 7-of-8 shots from the field to go with six rebounds for the Golden Eagles (18-6, 9-3), who moved into a first-place tie with Georgetown in the Big East.
Pitt hung in there for a while despite Marquette’s torrid start from the field and trailed only 31-27 with a little over three minutes left in the first half before the Golden Eagles took off.
The Panthers entered the game fifth in the nation in scoring defense, allowing only 54.4 points per game, but they had no answers for the balanced Marquette attack. The loss marked the first time in the past 49 games that an opposing team had eclipsed the 75 point mark against Jamie Dixon’s team.
Unlike Pitt’s (20-6, 8-5) previous five defeats, which all came by single digits with the Panthers having a chance to win each, Pitt had very little chance once they entered the locker room trailing 42-29 at the half.
Lamar Patterson led Pitt with 19 points, while senior point guard Tray Woodall was also in double-figures with 10, although Woodall went scoreless in the first half.
Despite the loss, Pitt is still a hot team with a chance at a double bye in the Big East Tournament.
The Panthers have won eight of their past 11 with three of its next four at home, beginning with a matchup against No. 21 Notre Dame on Monday.
Photo Credit: Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
