Champagnie’s Last Second Dunk Gives Panthers 71-70 Victory Over Northwestern

Wednesday, December 9

Evanston, IL

9:15 PM

Pitt

3-1,0-0ACC

Northwestern

2-1,0-0Big Ten

Pittsburgh

Northwestern

Champagnie’s Last Second Dunk Gives Panthers 71-70 Victory Over Northwestern

12/10/2020 12:50:00 AM | Men's Basketball

Box Score Box Score Postgame Notes Highlights Postgame Press Conference Photo Gallery

EVANSTON, Ill. – Justin Champagnie was two points away from the first 20-20 performance by a Panther since DeJuan Blair in 2009. With five seconds to spare, Champagnie gave the Panthers a 71-70 lead with a dunk from the left baseline, recording his 20^th point of the evening and the eventual game-winning basket as Pitt held on to defeat Northwestern in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge.

Playing in all 40 minutes of action, Champagnie ended the night with 20 points and 20 rebounds and became the first Panther since DeJuan Blair on February 16, 2009 at UConn to record a 20-20 game in a Panther uniform. Champagnie's 20-20 performance is also the first 20-20 showing for a Division I player against a fellow Division I team this season, and he becomes the shortest ACC player at six-foot-six to register a 20-20 game in the past 25 seasons.

The Panthers got off to a slow start early in the first half, going 0-for-12 from the field in the first five and a half minutes. Northwestern jumped out to an early 7-0 lead after the first media timeout and extended its lead to double-digits (15-5) with 11:47 on the clock.

Pitt cut the Wildcat's lead to three points (17-14) at the 6:46 mark before Northwestern answered with a 7-0 run to get back to a double-digit, 24-14 lead. Northwestern went into halftime with a 33-22 advantage.

Champagnie had eight points and 10 boards after the first 20 minutes and the Panthers shot just 8-of-39 from the field, including 2-of-14 from three.
A pair of back-to-back three-pointers from Xavier Johnson put Pitt right back in it, trailing 34-30 with 15:25 in the second half. The Panthers go within three points three separate times following Johnson's three pointer and got within one point (43-42) after Au'Diese Toney converted a layup at the 11:25 time stamp.

Wildcat Boo Buie knocked in a pair of free throws with 7:42 remaining, putting Northwestern up 54-48. Toney again got the Panthers within one point (54-53) after a made three following an offensive rebound from John Hugley. Northwestern answered with a run, scoring seven unanswered points to lead 61-53 with 5:19 in the game.

Pitt stayed within striking distance and pulled within three points after a pair of made free throws from Toney with 34 seconds left. Femi Odukale forced a turnover under Northwestern's basket following the ensuing inbound, and Champagnie converted a layup to put Pitt one point down with 25 seconds to go.

After a pair of misses from the charity stripe from the Wildcats, Johnson ran the floor and found Champagnie underneath the basket for a dunk, giving Pitt its first lead of the game with five seconds to spare. Northwestern ran the length of the court and shot up a three to no avail as Pitt held on for its third win in a row and first road victory of the season.

The victory set a program record for consecutive minutes played trailing before winning, as Pitt trailed for 39 minutes and 54 seconds before Champagnie's dunk.

The Panthers close out non-conference play Saturday, Dec. 12 at home against Gardner-Webb. Tip-off is at 4 PM with coverage on AT&T SportsNet.