University of Pittsburgh Athletics
Pitt
Seton Hall
Pittsburgh Holds Off Seton Hall, 71-68
2/19/2007 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Feb. 19, 2007
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EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. (AP) - Levance Fields scored seven of his 15 points in the final 2 1/2 minutes to help short-handed No. 10 Pittsburgh hold off Seton Hall 71-68 Monday night.
Levon Kendall had 14 points and eight rebounds and Sam Young added 11 points for the Panthers (24-4, 11-2 Big East), who were without injured 7-foot center Aaron Gray. The victory was the 100th for Pittsburgh coach Jamie Dixon (100-26), who reached the milestone faster than any coach in school history.
Eugene Harvey scored 19 of his 24 points in the second half, Jamar Nutter had 19 and Brian Laing added 12 points and eight rebounds for Seton Hall (12-14, 3-10).
The Pirates, who fell behind by 14 with 5 1/2 minutes to go, pulled to 64-61 on Paul Gause's tip-in with 1:20 remaining.
Fields, who made five free throws in the final minute, hit two to push Pitt's lead to 67-61 with 49 seconds left. After Harvey's layup pulled Seton Hall to within three with 16 seconds remaining, Fields made two more from the line less than a second later.
Nutter then hit his fourth 3-pointer of the game to pull the Pirates to 70-68 with about 5 seconds remaining, and Fields made 1 of 2 free throws to make it a three-point game. Nutter's desperation 3 from inside half court at the buzzer bounced high off the rim.
Pittsburgh moved one-half game ahead of Georgetown for first place in the conference, and visits the Hoyas on Saturday.
Gray, who sprained his left ankle in the final minute of a win over Washington on Saturday, was on the bench in warmups with a protective boot on his foot.
After missing their one free-throw attempt in the opening period, the Pirates made their charge by making 16-for-19 from the line in the second half.
The teams traded baskets for the first 5 1/2 minutes of the second half, before Seton Hall pulled to 39-37 on two free throws each by Harvey and Nutter. Keith Benjamin's dunk pushed Pitt's lead back to four.
Harvey's basket with 11:01 left cut the Pirates' deficit to 43-41, and the Panthers had a shot-clock violation on the ensuing possession. Gause missed two free throws for Seton Hall, and Young made consecutive baskets, converting a 3-point play on the second, to push the lead to 48-41 with 9:09 left in the game.
After Harvey made two free throws to cut the Pirates' deficit to five, the Panthers scored nine straight points - the last five by Fields - to take a 59-45 lead with 5:32 left.
H.D. Carlson was the previous fastest to 100 wins for Pitt, reaching the milestone in his 140th game - on Feb. 22, 1930. Dixon is also tied for 15th-fastest in NCAA history.
The Panthers started slowly, trailing 14-4 about 5:15 into the game. However Pitt used a 12-2 run, capped by consecutive baskets by Graves, to tie the score at 16 with 9:26 left in the half.
The score was tied three more times in the half before Young's fastbreak dunk with 1:17 left capped Pitt's 7-0 run for a 30-23 lead. However, Harvey's buzzer-beater from half court cut the Pirates' deficit to four at the break.
