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Suddenly hot Pitt wins third straight
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MORGANTOWN, W.Va. -- Pitt defeated West Virginia, 72-66, tonight at WVU Coliseum. It is the third consecutive victory for the Panthers, who had lost eight in a row.
Tray Woodall led Pitt (14-9, 3-7) with 24 points. Ashton Gibbs added 15.
Kevin Jones led West Virginia (15-8, 5-5) with 21 points.
Pitt led 33-29 at halftime. The Panthers got off to a slow start, but they took their first lead of the game when Woodall made a 3-pointer with 2:43 remaining in the half. Woodall scored 11 of Pitt's final 15 points of the half, including another 3-pointer just before the buzzer. He scored 13 of his first-half points in the final 6:32 of the half.
West Virginia jumped out to a 17-9 lead, but the Mountaineers could not build on their lead because of some careless play. They had seven turnovers in the half and lost an opportunity to take a bigger lead because the Panthers shot 30 percent from the field in the first 10 minutes of the game.
By halftime, Pitt had its percentage up to 50 percent, thanks largely to Woodall. The Mountaineers shot 45 percent in the half.
The Panthers opened the second half on an 8-2 run. They scored four of those points on one possession when Dante Taylor converted a 3-point play, and Ashton Gibbs converted one of two free throws after West Virginia coach Bob Huggins was whistled for a technical foul.
That sequence led to a 41-31 lead with 17:40 remaining. West Virginia came back to cut the lead to two twice in the final 8:13, but the Panthers never allowed the Mountaineers to tie or take the lead. Jones had an opportunity to give the Mountaineers a lead, but he air-balled a 3-point attempt with six minutes to go.
First Published January 30, 2012 12:00 am
