University of Pittsburgh Athletics
Pitt
Miami Fla
Men's Hoops Falls To Miami, 74-66
2/29/2000 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Feb. 29, 2000
By ALAN ROBINSON
AP Sports Writer
PITTSBURGH (AP) - Johnny Hemsley returned from a one-game suspension to score 21 points and Miami again rolled on the road, beating Pittsburgh 74-66 Tuesday night for its 10th victory in its last 11 Big East games.
Mario Bland scored 16 of his 20 points in the second half as the Hurricanes (19-9, 12-3) stayed in the chase for the conference regular-season title with their 16th victory in their last 18 Big East road games.
The Hurricanes also swept the Panthers (12-14, 4-11) for the first time in conference play - they had been 1-6 in Pittsburgh - and won their fourth in a row and seventh in eight games overall.
Miami still can win the Big East regular-season title if it beats St. John's on Sunday in Miami and Syracuse (23-3, 12-2) loses Wednesday at Notre Dame and Saturday at Connecticut. If Syracuse and Miami tie, Syracuse wins the title by virtue of its victory in Miami.
With Hemsley doing the scoring in the first half with 11 points and the physical, 265-pound Bland taking over in the second half against the depleted Panthers, Miami shook off Pitt comebacks in each half.
Pittsburgh, down to eight players due to injuries and disciplinary actions, trailed by as many as nine points before a Jarrett Lockhart-led rally gave the Panthers a 42-41 lead with 14:42 remaining.
Lockhart, coming off a career-high 30 points against Rutgers, led Pitt with 24 points. Ricardo Greer had 21 and 10 rebounds.
But Miami regained the lead at 51-49 on Bland's basket from the lane, keying a 10-2 run that saw Bland scored six points and the Hurricanes open a 57-51 lead.
Pitt got as close as 62-58 down the stretch, but Bland made two free throws with 3:37 to play, then scored on a nice pass from Vernon Jennings. Jennings froze the defense by faking a shot, only to find Bland open in front of the basket.
Hemsley, suspended for a 55-52 victory Saturday over Notre Dame for disciplinary reasons, later pushed the lead back to eight points at 68-60 by hitting a 15-foot jumper with 1:13 to play.
The home game was the last for Pittsburgh, which must beat Providence on March 5 and win at least three times in the Big East tournament to finish with a winning record in coach Ben Howland's first season.
