The Pitt basketball team had moments during Wednesday's second round game in the ACC Tournament where it looked like the team may be poised for an upset over 5th-seeded North Carolina State.

That quickly changed early on in the second half.

The Wolfpack took advantage of some Panthers' miscues to knock off Pitt by a score of 73-58 to advance to Thursday's quarterfinal round opposite fourth-seeded Duke.

Pitt had the North Carolina State lead down to 44-40 with 15:53 remaining in the game, but a big turn of events happened after that moment. Xavier Johnson was whistled for an offensive foul, which was then ruled a flagrant and that helped fuel a quick 6-0 run for the Wolfpack to get the lead back up to double digits.

Johnson was forced to sit much of the second half, and North Carolina State took advantage with him off the floor. The Wolfpack outscored Pitt 38-26 in the second half and had the lead up to 20 points in the closing minutes before Pitt hit a few shots at the end to set the final. Pitt shot just 29% from the field after halftime.

Johnson finished with a team-high 15 points and 8 rebounds, but also committed 8 turnovers as well. Trey McGowens contributed 12 points and 3 assists.

After a career-game on Tuesday, Justin Champagnie was limited to just 9 points on 4-of-13 shooting from the floor on Wednesday. Champganie was held without a point in the second half.

The Panthers did not have much of an answer for North Carolina State' Devon Daniels, who finished with 23 points on 9-of-14 shooting.

The first half looked like North Carolina State was about to pull away multiple times, but the resilient Panthers hung around. After the Wolfpack went up 31-21 with 7:12 left in the first half, a quick 9-0 run by Pitt cut the deficit and Pitt only trailed by 3 points at the break.

Pitt ends the season with a 16-17 final record and having lost eight of the team's final nine games. The Panthers improve on last year's win total of 14, but it marks the fourth straight losing season for the program.