Pitt moves closer to No.1 seed in NCAAs with big win
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Pitt took a big step toward securing a No. 1 seed in the NCAA tournament tonight with a 90-75 victory against Marquette at the Petersen Events Center.
The No. 3 Panthers (27-3, 14-3) also kept their Big East regular-season championship hopes alive with the victory. They can still claim the conference title with a win over Connecticut and if Louisville loses Saturday at West Virginia.
Even if the Panthers don't win on Saturday it's likely last night's victory clinched a No. 1 seed in the NCAA tournament. According to Joe Lunardi, who projects the NCAA field for ESPN, the only way the Panthers could have lost a No. 1 seed was if they lost three consecutive games going into the NCAA tournament.
Last night's win took care of that, so if his prediction is correct the Panthers likely are headed to Dayton as one of the four top seeds for first- and second-round games in two weeks.
Pitt, which set a school record with 14 regular-season Big East victories, has won 20 consecutive games at the Petersen Events Center and can finish the season with a perfect home record with a win against Connecticut.
Sophomore center DeJuan Blair, showing no ill effects from the knee injury he suffered in Saturday's win against Seton Hall, led the Panthers with 23 points and nine rebounds. Senior point guard Levance Fields added 17 points and nine assists.
Pitt, which led by 10 on three occasions in the first half, had a 43-36 lead at halftime, but Marquette opened the second half on a 21-5 run and took a 57-48 lead with 15:59 remaining after another McNeal 3-pointer. Marquette made 8 of its first 10 shots to open the half.
Pitt stormed back with nine consecutive points in a little more than a minute to tie the score on a 3-pointer from Fields with 14:31 left. The Panthers then seized control with a 23-4 run.
Five players scored points in the spurt with Fields scoring 10 and reserve forward Gilbert Brown contributing seven. After Brown made the score 85-65 with 3:05 remaining, the sellout crowd began chanting "We want UConn."
First Published March 4, 2009 9:39 pm
