Pitt
21-10,12-8ACC
NC State
17-14,9-11ACC
Carrington & Hinson Lead Panthers to 81-73 Win Over NC State
3/9/2024 11:21:00 PM | Men's Basketball
PITTSBURGH – Carlton Carrington and Blake Hinson combined for 44 points to pace Pitt to an 81-73 win over NC State Saturday night at the Petersen Events Center. Carrington hit four threes and had a team-high 23 points to go along with five rebounds, and six assists, while Hinson went out in style on Senior Night with 21 points on 8-of-16 shooting from the field.
Pitt shot 50 percent from the field, its third consecutive game shooting 50 percent or better from the field, and led by as many as 17 points in the second half while improving to 21-10 overall and 12-8 in the ACC. The Panthers recovered from a 1-5 start in league play to earn a double-bye as the No. 4 seed in next week's ACC Tournament.
Pitt grabbed its first lead of the game on a corner three by Jaland Lowe with 7:18 remaining in the first half and extended the lead to 31-24 on an Ishmael Leggett acrobatic three-point play and a Zack Austin finish thru contact to force an NC State timeout with 5:01 remaining in the half.
The Panthers continued a string of strong play on both ends of the floor leading by as many as 11 before entering the break with a 39-29 advantage. Pitt held the Wolfpack scoreless over a three-minute span and limited them to 2-of-12 shooting over the final eight minutes of action in the first half.
Hinson, Lowe, and Leggett each scored seven points in the first half and Pitt surged ahead for a 20-11 rebounding advantage.
Pitt came out of the break on fire with three three-pointers and an exclamation point windmill dunk by Austin to pull ahead 52-35 and force an NC State timeout at the 16:20 mark. Carrington hit a pair of threes before finding Hinson for a deep three to bring the Petersen Events Center crowd to its feet. Austin chased down a loose ball and kicked it ahead to Lowe, who flipped it back to Austin for the emphatic slam.
NC State trimmed the deficit back to 10 points as Pitt went through a three minute scoring drought, but Carrington came out of the under 12 media timeout and hit his third three of the half and Hinson followed with a three of his own to push the lead to 62-46 with just over 10 minutes remaining.
The Wolfpack continued to chip away at the lead and cut it to six points with 4:39 remaining as Jayden Taylor hit back-to-back threes to force a Pitt timeout. Taylor three more free throws to cap an 11-0 run that got NC State within a possession at 70-67 with 2:26 remaining.
Federiko Federiko scored on a putback on Pitt's next possession for a 72-67 lead and Carrington hit a three off a terrific feed from Austin for an eight-point cushion. Taylor hit his fifth three of the night off a loose ball scrum with one minute remaining but Carrington broke the NC State press and found Guillermo Diaz Graham for an and-one lob to push the lead back to eight.
Carrington made a pair of free throws and Austin added one from the charity stripe in the final 40 seconds to secure the win for the Panthers.
Pitt got strong efforts throughout the rotation with all seven players scoring five or more points. Federiko finished with eight points, nine rebounds, and three assists, while Leggett had nine points and eight rebounds before fouling out late in the contest.
Taylor led NC State with 28 points, but no other Wolfpack player could reach double-figures in scoring. Leading scorer DJ Horne was held to three points in 12 minutes of action before sitting out the second half due to injury.
80 AGAIN
Pitt topped the 80-point mark for the third consecutive game to improve to 13-0 on the season when scoring 80 or more points in a game. Pitt is 37-2 under Jeff Capel when topping the 80-point mark.
HINSON HITS 20-POINT MARK ON SENIOR NIGHT
Hinson recorded his 14th 20-point scoring game on 8-of-16 shooting from the field. He made two three-pointers to move into 15th place in the ACC record book with 106 threes on the season. The 21-point night also moved him into 32nd place at Pitt with 1,134 points in just 67 games.
BUB FILLING THE STAT SHEET
Carrington recorded his third game with at least 15 points, five rebounds, and five assists. He is looking to become just the 16th freshman since the 1992-93 season to average at least 13.0 points, 5.0 rebounds, and 4.0 assists per game.
PARTY IN THE PAINT
Pitt delivered a strong performance on the interior with a +12 margin in points in the paint, including a 26-18 edge in the first half.
ULTIMATE GLUE GUY
Austin had an outstanding game despite finishing with just five points, three rebounds, two steals, and a block. The Panthers were +17 in his 17 minutes of action as he made impact plays on both ends of the floor. Austin ignited the crowd with a highlight reel dunk in the second half and assisted on a Carrington three late in the contest.
UP NEXT
Pitt will play in the ACC Tournament Quaterfinals Thursday, March 14 (2:30 p.m.) at Capital One Arena in Washington, D.C. The Panthers will face the winner of Wednesday's contest between 5-seed Wake Forest and 12-seed Notre Dame or 13-seed Georgia Tech.
