Fields lifts Pitt into Elite Eight
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Pitt's Levance Fields jumps into head coach Jamie Dixon's arms during the final seconds of the Panthers' win tonight against Xavier in the NCAA East Regional in Boston. -
Pitt's DeJuan Blair cheers after teammate Levance Fields got a steal and scored near the end of his team's win against Xavier in the NCAA East Regional in Boston tonight. -
Pitt's Gilbert Brown gets caught in between Xavier's B.J. Raymond and Brad Redford in the first half of their NCAA East Regional game in Boston tonight. -
Pitt's DeJuan Blair defends as Xavier's Jamel McLean drives to the net in the first half of tonight's NCAA East Regional in Boston. -
Pitt's Brad Wanamaker drives to the net against Xavier's Brad Redford in the first half of tonight's NCAA East Regional in Boston.
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BOSTON -- How sweet it is.
After some sour endings and near misses in its previous four trips to the third round in the NCAA tournament, No. 1 seed Pitt exorcised those demons from seasons past with a 60-55 victory against No. 4 seed Xavier tonight at TD Banknorth Garden.
With the victory, the Panthers (31-4) advance to the Elite Eight for the first time since 1974. They will play Villanova, the winner of tonight's late game against No. 2 seed Duke, 77-54.
This was Pitt's fifth trip to the Sweet 16 in the past eight seasons. While the others ended in heartbreak, this one ended with the Panthers celebrating the fact that Saturday night they play for the right to go to the Final Four for the first time since 1941.
The hero was Levance Fields. He drained a 3-pointer with 50.9 seconds remaining to give Pitt a 55-54 lead. On Xavier's next possession, Gilbert Brown forced a turnover by B.J. Raymond, and Fields converted a layup with 23 seconds left for a 57-54 lead.
All of this came after the Panthers blew a five point lead with five minutes remaining.
First Published March 26, 2009 8:47 pm
