University of Pittsburgh Athletics
Pitt
Northrn Arizona
Panthers Handle NAU, 58-47
11/18/2001 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Nov 18, 2001
PITTSBURGH (AP) - Jaron Brown had 13 points as Pittsburgh beat Northern Arizona 58-47 to give coach Ben Howland a win over his former school.
Ontario Lett had 12 points, while Brandin Knight added 11 points for the Panthers (2-0), who won despite making only 21 of 55 shots (38 percent) from the field.
After losing a 24-18 halftime lead, the Panthers went on a 15-3 run to take a 42-28 lead with 8:05 to play.
Northern Arizona (1-1) got its first lead of the game with an 8-0 run to start the second half.
But after Kodiak Yazzle's jump shot to give the Lumberjacks a 28-27 lead, Northern Arizona didn't score a point for 8 minutes and 23 seconds.
Northern Arizona got as close as seven points twice in the final minute of play but never challenged. Pitt made six consecutive free throws in the final 41 seconds to secure the win.
Matt Gebhardt had 15 points for the Lumberjacks, who also struggled in the field making 19 of 44 shots (43 percent).
Pitt beat Northern Arizona inside, allowing the Lumberjacks only five offensive rebounds and out-rebounding them 37 to 28.
The game was Howland's first against his former school since joining Pitt in 1999.
Donatas Zavackas, the Panthers' best 3-point shooter, sat out his second game of two-game NCAA suspension for playing for a professional team in his native Lithuania in 1996-97.
