Pitt
(7-5)
Delaware State
(2-11)
Panthers Outlast Delaware State, 74-68
12/19/2017 9:23:00 PM | Men's Basketball
PITTSBURGH -- Senior guard Jonathan Milligan had 13 points, including a pair of clutch free throws with 15.1 second remaining as Pitt held off a second half charge by Delaware State to secure a 74-68 victory Tuesday night at the Petersen Events Center.
The Panthers (7-5) led by as many as 27 in the first half and by 22 at halftime, but their lead slipped away in the second half as the team went just 8-of-23 (.348) from the field after intermission.
"I think that we lost our focus and our energy at halftime and I thought that was the best part of our performance in the first half," said head coach Kevin Stallings. "I thought our energy and our intensity was terrific. We have been starting slowly in games, getting out of the gate slow during our last couple of games, so we really tried to push tonight, which we did. We sustained it through the first 20 minutes and then we didn't in the second half. It's my job to fix it and help them fix it."
Delaware State (2-11) threw a steady dose of mix and match defenses to cool off the Panthers, who had hit 8-of-16 from three-point range in the first half. Pitt went just 5-of-19 from beyond the arc after the break.
A corner three-pointer by Hornets forward Artem Tavakalyan cut the Pitt lead to two with 22.1 seconds remaining, but Milligan made both free throws at the other end to restore a two-possession lead.
Junior Jared Wilson-Frame also had 13 points for Pitt, while freshman Khameron Davis finished with 10. Davis came up big in the final 90 seconds of action, recording a block and a steal on one end of the floor before knocking down a three-pointer from the left corner to give the Panthers a 67-61 lead with 53 second remaining.
Kavon Waller knocked down five three-point field goals and scored 17 points, while Pinky Wiley added 16 points and seven assists for the Hornets.
Pitt shot 56.0 percent (14-of-25) from the field and assisted on 12 of 14 made field goals while jumping out to a 44-22 halftime lead. Nine different Panthers scored in the opening half of play with Marcus Carr leading the way with nine points on 3-of-4 shooting from beyond the arc.
"Our team is not such that we can take our foot off the gas pedal," added Stallings. "That's not who we are. There is no team in college basketball that we can do that with. It's nice to have a lead and blitz a team in the first half and if we are lucky to have it again, maybe we will do a better job next time."
BIG PICTURE
Delaware State: The Hornets remain mired in a season-long 11-game losing streak against Division I opponents. But they've seen progress since their 49-point loss to Duquesne on Dec. 9. After losing to in-state rival Delaware by nine on Dec. 17, the Hornets closed hard against Pitt, their first power-conference opponent of the season.
Pitt: The Panthers continued to navigate the loss of senior power forward Ryan Luther. Luther missed his second game in what will be a multiple-week absence with a stress reaction in his right foot. Replacing him remains a work in progress, as the Panthers were outrebounded 37-27 and outscored in the paint 20-14.
UP NEXT
Delaware State will continue its three-game road swing with a trip to Nebraska on Friday.
Pitt will finish its non-conference schedule with a home game against Towson on Friday.
