Kemba Walker ended up being the difference marker in the end, hitting the game winner with 1 second remaining as UConn knocks off No. 3 Pittsburgh 76-74 to advance to the semi-finals
Nasir Robinson picks up his 4th foul. UConn takes 72-69 lead as Nappier makes both free throws
Dante Taylor (4pts) with back-to-back buckets to tie the game at 69. UConn is going to the line. 3:26 left to play, tv timeout
Walker gives UConn a 69-67 lead with 4:00 remaining
Ashton Gibbs (24pts) with a jumper to put Pitt back up by 1 point, taking a 62-61 lead. Tv timeout with 7:32 left in the half
Alex Oriakhi (10pts) gives UConn a 61-60 lead with 8:26 left to play in the 2nd half. Oriakhi has 8 points in the half.
Nasir Robinson’s atheltic ability to drive inside has been a matchup problem for UConn. Robinson has 11 points in the game and 4 points in the 2nd half. Pitt leads 60-56 at the 10:00 minute mark.
UConn has 17 points off of turnovers…Pitt has 0.
Pitt starting to get into some foul trouble. Gary McGhee just picked up his 4th foul of the game.
UConn is starting to establish an inside game with Alex Oriakhi (8pts) who has 6 points in the half. Pitt leads 58-54 with 11:44 left to play in the 2nd half.
Pittsburgh holds a 58-52 lead, 7 minutes into the half.
Ashton Gibbs (22 pts) hits his fifth 3-pointer of the game as Pitt takes a 50-43 lead at 16:15 in the 2nd half. Tv timeout.
Ashton Gibbs (19pts) with his first points of the half, hitting his fourth 3-pointer of the game. Pitt leads 47-40 with 18:11 left to play.
2nd half is underway between Pitt and UConn.
1. Ashton Gibbs (16pts, 6-7), 2. Nasir Robinson (7pts, 3-4), 3. Gilbert Brown (7pts, 2-4), 4. Brad Wanamaker (6pts, 2-6), 5. Travon Woodall (5pts, 2-3).
| Pitt is shooting (15-26) from the field | UConn is shooting (13-25) from the field | Pitt is 4-5 from 3-point range | UConn is 2-4 from 3-point range | Both teams with 11 rebounds, Pitt with just 2 offensive rebounds
Pitt with 7 turnovers in the half as UConn had 6 steals in the 1st half.
Travon Woodall scores on a runner at the buzzer as Pitt takes a 41-40 lead at the half.
UConn on a 16-4 run, ties the game at 39-39 with 39 seconds remaining in the 1st half. UConn getting easy baskets against Pitt through their transition game and have gone away from trying to play a half court game against Pitt
UConn has cut Pitt’s lead down to 2, after the Panthers opened up a 12 point lead. Pittsburgh 39 – UConn 37 at 2:00 mark.
UConn has cut Pitt’s lead down to 2, after the Panthers opened up a 12 point lead. Pittsburgh 39 – UConn 37 at 2:00 mark.
UConn has cut Pitt’s lead to 8 points and are starting to establish a tempo offensively with their transition game. 37 – 29 Pitt lead at 3:49.
The Huskies can’t slow down Ashton Gibbs who has 16 points and is 3-for-3 from 3 point range. Gibbs has Pitt out to a 33-23 lead. A Jeremy Lamb layup has led to Pitt taking their first timeout with 6:10 left to play.
Panthers out to a 30-19 lead with 7:19 left in the 1st half. Ashton Gibbs leads Pitt with 13 points.
Nasir Robinson is out of the game with 2 early fouls. 8:37 left in 1st half
Pitt is making UConn earn every point with Pitt’s tougness inside on display. Pitt leads 23-13 with 11:14 left in play
Travon Woodall beats the shot-clock with a long 3 as Pitt jumps out to a 23-11 lead with 11:37 remaining in the first half. Ashton Gibbs leads Pitt with 11 points and Nasir Robinson has added 7 points. Gibbs is 4-4 from the field and 2-2 from 3-point range
Nasir Robinson is very active early on, shooting 3-for-4 from the floor with 7 points as Pitt leads 20-11.
Brad Wanamaker goes off the dribble and sets up Ashton Gibbs for a 3-pointer as Pitt takes an 18-8 lead. Gibbs leads Pitt with 11 points.
15:47 – Ashton Gibbs (5 points) is going to the line for a 3-point play as Pitt takes 11-6 lead at TV timeout.
Ashton Gibbs 3-point gives Pitt a 9-4 lead and has led to UConn first timeout at 16:28.
Kemba Walker gets on the board for UConn with a long 2 and Pitt takes a 6-4 lead, 3:00 into game. Robinson leads Pitt with 4 points and Wanamaker has added 2 points.
Robinson gets Pitt on the board first in transition to give Pitt a 2-0 lead.
In the Big East opener on Dec. 27,, Pitt defended UConn sharpshooter Kemba Walker by letting Walker get his points and taking everyone else out of the game. Walker scored 31 points in the defeat and no other UConn player scored more than 9 points. Walker is 0-for-4 in his career against Pitt but is one of those players who can take over a game and burn Pitt in a one-and-done tournament. Walker scored 26 against DePaul on Tuesday and added 28 points on Wednesday against No. 22 Georgetown.
Will Pitt playing in their first game of the tournament be to their advantage? Logic says yes as the No. 9 seeded Huskies will be playing in their third game. However, double byes for the Panthers have not been favorable to Pitt of late. In each of the past two seasons, Pitt has earned a double bye and were ousted in the tournament in the quarterfinals.
Since Pittsburgh and Connecticut met in three straight Big East title games from 2002-04, they have yet to face each other in the conference tournament. That will change today as the two Big East rivals meet at noon today in the quarterfinals. The Panthers who lost 2 of the 3 championship games against the Huskies, enter today’s game on a four game winning streak against the Huskies. Pitt defeated UConn 78-63 on Dec. 27 in the Big East opener for both teams.
| 12:00 p.m. No. 3 Pittsburgh vs No. 19 UConn | 2:00 p.m. No. 11 Syracuse vs No. 18 St. Johns | 7:00 p.m. No. 4 Notre Dame vs Cincinnati | 9:00 p.m. No. 14 Louisville vs Marquette |.
With Marquette’s upset victory over West Virginia, talk continues to center around the Big East sending 11 teams to the NCAA Tournament with Marquette now in and Villanova still getting into the tournament.
