Woodall helps Panthers turn away Explorers
-
Nasir Robinson had a team-high 17 points for Pitt Tuesday night in its 73-69 victory against La Salle.
Share with others:
Pitt junior Tray Woodall has done just about everything that has been asked of him so far this season. He entered the game against La Salle Tuesday night as the team's leader in assists and was second in scoring and rebounding.
The Panthers' do-it-all point guard filled up the stat sheet once again with his third double-double this season against the Explorers, but he preserved a hard-fought victory with a most unlikely play.
Woodall sprinted the length of the court and blocked a layup attempt by Sam Mills with eight seconds remaining, and No. 17 Pitt avoided a second loss in a row with a 73-69 win at Petersen Events Center.
"I just didn't want to give him a layup," Woodall said. "We needed a stop. I went up there and went after it. Coach [Jamie] Dixon always preaches no layups."
- Game: No. 17 Pitt (3-1) at Penn (3-1), Palestra, Philadelphia, in Philly HoopGroup Classic.
- When: 7 p.m. Friday.
Woodall was terrific with 12 points, 10 assists and 3 rebounds, but the block of Mills was his career-high third of the game. The Panthers had nine blocks overall as part of a better overall defensive effort after allowing Long Beach State 86 points in their first loss last week.
La Salle, which had averaged 80 points in its first three games, shot 43 percent and had a hard time scoring against Pitt's half-court defense. The reason the Explorers were in the game until the final minute was Pitt's poor offensive execution and turnovers.
La Salle's final opportunity came after Ashton Gibbs turned the ball over without putting up a shot with 10 seconds remaining. It was the 21st turnover for the Panthers and their fifth in the final five minutes after going ahead, 60-53.
"We shouldn't have been in that position," Dixon said. "We didn't take care of the ball against the press. We didn't get a good shot at the end. The turnovers kept holding us back."
Pitt (3-1) held 10-point leads in each half, but La Salle fought back each time to remain in contention. A 15-4 run midway through the second half gave the Explorers their first lead, 53-52, with 7:15 left.
Pitt answered with a 9-0 run to take the lead for good, but the game was tense right to the end. The Explorers (2-2) trailed by nine with less than two minutes remaining, but clawed back into the game with some timely shots following those Pitt turnovers.
Earl Pettis scored eight of his game-high 22 points in the final 1:53. His 3-pointer with 44 seconds left cut Pitt's lead to 72-69. Pitt bled the shot clock on its ensuing possession, but Gibbs turned the ball over before he could get a shot away.
First Published November 23, 2011 12:00 am
