The Pitt Panthers had a fight on their hands Wednesday night at the Petersen Events Center in the form of visiting Georgia Tech.
But while the Yellow Jackets gave the Panthers everything they had, ultimately Pitt had too much firepower as the Panthers improved to 13-1 on the season and 2-0 in ACC play in an 89-84 ACC victory.
Jamel Artis and James Robinson each finished with 18 points, leading five Pitt players in double figures in the win.
Pitt used an early 10-1 first-half run to gain an early 13-point advantage, but despite shooting 63 percent from the floor in the first half, Pitt only led by six at the half, 42-36. The Panthers struggled to start the second half as the Yellow Jackets cut the Pitt lead to one before Artis hit consecutive three-point shots. Sterling Smith’s third three-pointer of the game sparked a 16-4 run over a six-minute span that saw the Panthers lead balloon to as many as 15.
Georgia Tech (10-5, 0-2) wouldn’t go away though and ultimately made it a two possession game with just over a minute left on the back of guard Adam Smith, who finished with 30 points on the night, making 8-of-13 three-pointers.
But as they have all season Pitt was able to close the game out from the free-throw line, making 25-of-30 attempts on the night.
“Really exciting game and a fun game to watch for the fans,” said Pitt head coach Jamie Dixon. “It was up tempo and back and forth. It was a good win. It would have been nice to pull away, but give them credit for coming back. We did a really good job offensively and our defense was good, not great, but they had a lot to do with that.”
Michael Young finished with 17 points, while Sterling Smith (11) and Sheldon Jeter also finished in double figures for the Panthers.
Charles Mitchell (20) and Marcus Georges-Hunt (14) finished in double figures for Georgia Tech.
“We just couldn’t get any stops,” said Georgia Tech head coach Brian Gregory. “Pitt has another good team. Highly efficient on the offensive end, they do a great job at the defensive end and they are a tremendous free-throw shooting team. They capitalize on every mistake you make. The stops we got were fouls and they weren’t going to miss from the line. Tough loss on the road. I don’t recall a game where we scored 84 points in regulation and lost. We got to a point where we pretty much had to score on every possession.”
Senior Leadership- With Michael Young on the bench for most of the first half with two fouls, the Panthers leaned on senior point guard James Robinson and he delivered. Robinson had nine points and seven assists in the first half as the Panthers built a 42-36 halftime lead.
With Pitt only leading by two with under eight minutes left in the first half, Robinson scored seven consecutive points, sparking an 11-0 Pitt run that saw them extend their lead to 13.
“He’s the most underrated player in the country,” Gregory said.
Every time Pitt needed a big play Robinson was involved in some fashion. He not only finished with the 18 points, but dished out eight assists and pulled down four rebounds.
“We just stuck to the offensive game plan,” said Robinson. “Ideally we want to play inside-out, but once Mike got into foul trouble we had other guys step up. We don’t like the fact that we gave up 84 points, but we will take the win.”
Doing the Dirty Work: Rafael Maia was especially impressive underneath the glass at both ends of the floor, finishing with seven points and 12 rebounds (seven in first half) as Pitt was outrebounded by the Yellow Jackets 38-34 on the night, including allowing 14 offensive rebounds.
Maia not only was aggressive rebounding the ball, but also had to deal with GT big man Charles Mitchell, who finished the night with 20 points and 17 rebounds.
“Rafael was outstanding,” said Dixon. “With the way the foul situations were, we leaned on him and Sheldon a lot tonight.”
Maia played 32 minutes, the most he has played all season.
“We knew going in it would be a physical challenge,” said Maia. “It was a tough matchup. We were able to be physical, but you couldn’t be too physical with how the game was called. We all trust each other and I think my teammates trust me. I am ready for whatever coach needs me to do.”
Hitting the long ball: Adam Smith hit eight of GT’s 10 three-pointers on the night as the Yellow Jackets hit 50 percent (10-of-20) from long range.
The Panthers were no slouches themselves, connecting on 46.2 percent of their attempts from behind the arc, with many of them coming in big moments early on to give Pitt some momentum.
It was Adam Smith who shined brightest though shooting the ball. Smith has now drained 14 three-pointers in his past two games and 14 in the past two times he has faced Pitt, having knocked down six against the Panthers last year as a member of Virginia Tech.
“We had a 15-point lead late,” Dixon said. “So I would rather him be making them then rather than early in the game.”
Taking Care of the Rock: Pitt had only four turnovers (one in the first half) on the night as they continue to take very good care of the basketball. It helps having the ball in Robinson’s hands down the stretch as he only committed one turnover on the night.
Robinson has now had one or fewer turnovers in 11 of Pitt’s 14 games.
“We aim to have under 10 turnovers per game,” said Robinson. “Coach preaches to make the right play and we can still cut down on mistakes even only having four tonight.”
Up Next: Pitt travels to Notre Dame (9-4, 0-1) on Saturday for its first ACC road contest of the season.
Photo Credit: USA Today Sports
