University of Pittsburgh Athletics
Pitt
at Georgetown
No. 17 Georgetown Upsets No. 9 Pittsburgh, 61-58
2/5/2006 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Feb. 5, 2006
WASHINGTON (AP) - Jeff Green matched his career high with 22 points, and No. 17 Georgetown overcame a 15-point first-half deficit and survived a late rally Sunday to beat No. 9 Pittsburgh 61-58 for its sixth straight victory.
Georgetown was outrebounded 35-23, got only two points from its bench and for 20 minutes allowed Pittsburgh 7-footer Aaron Gray to look like the next coming of Patrick Ewing. But the Hoyas shut out Gray in the second half and held the Panthers to four field goals and one free throw during the final 10 minutes.
The Panthers trailed by 10 with 39 seconds remaining, but a pair of 3-pointers and two misses by the Hoyas at the free throw line cut Georgetown's lead to 59-58. Darrel Owens then made two free throws for the Hoyas with 3.6 seconds to play, and Ronald Ramon's long 3-pointer to tie hit the rim and bounced away at the final buzzer.
Green made 9 of 14 shots, and Brandon Bowman added 15 points for the Hoyas (16-5, 7-2 Big East), who have two victories over top 10 teams during their winning streak, including a Jan. 21 win over then-No. 1 Duke. The victory also moved Georgetown into sole possession of fourth place in the conference.
Gray had 15 points on 6-for-10 shooting with six rebounds at halftime, but he went 0-for-4 with three turnovers in the second half. He finished with 15 points and 11 rebounds. Carl Krauser and Ramon added 11 points each for the Panthers (17-3, 6-3), who have lost three of five - all on the road - after a 15-0 start.
Trailing 35-28 at halftime, Georgetown tied the game at 45 on Bowman's fast-break layup and took the lead for good at 48-37 on Bowman's 3-pointer with 9:38 to play. Pittsburgh scored only one field goal over the next nine minutes, with Gray unable to score against constant double teams and his teammates unable to hit from outside.
Gray had seven points and two assists in a 15-0 run that gave the Panthers a 33-18 lead in the first half. He was so dominant that Krauser, the team's leading scorer on the season, wasn't needed to score until late in the first half. Krauser committed the Panthers' first foul, which didn't come until 3:10 to go in the half, before scoring his first points on a jumper with 1:56 remaining.
The Hoyas closed the half with a 10-2 run, led by five points from Bowman.
The game pitted two of the Big East's top centers: 7-foot Gray and 7-foot-2 Roy Hibbert. Hibbert had the early upper hand, scoring the first six points of the game, but he was shut out the rest of the first half and finished with seven points.
