Pitt was down by one point with :24 seconds left in the game. Kansas State forward Levi Stockard missed the front end of a one-and-one. Eric Hamilton secured the rebound and gave it to his point guard, Xavier Johnson. The Pitt sophomore then zipped up the court, hit a tough layup to give Pitt the lead. Moments later, he drew a charge and hit two free-throws to extend the lead to help propel Pitt to a 63-59 win over the Wildcats.

Pitt now advances to the championship round of the Rocket Mortgage Fort Myers Tip-off and awaits the winner of Bradley and Northwestern.

In the final moments Justin Champagnie secured the game-winning rebound and knocked down a pair of free-throws to set the final. It was another big game for the freshman forward. He finished with 12 points, 6 rebounds, and 3 blocks in 35 minutes of game action. Champagnie went down with an apparent ankle injury early in the game, but returned and finished strong.

Pitt found itself trailing 27-17 with four minutes to go in the first half, and closed the half on an 11-3 run to be down only two at the break. Pitt extended that better stretch of play in the second half, but the game did feature 13 lead changes as the second half became a possession by possession game.

Pitt did break away a little with an 8-0 run to take a 57-51 lead. That was short lived, however. Kansas State answered with a 7-0 lead to regain the lead before Johnson's heroics.

Both teams struggled in different areas. Pitt 21 turnovers and was just 1-of-16 from 3-point land, but overcame that with a strong inside game, however. The Wildcats struggled from a different line. Kansas State was 3-of-13 from the foul line, and probably could have put Pitt away with better free throw shooting. Pitt found a way to overcome its inconsistencies and sneak away with a win, as Kansas State did not.

Johnson missed most of the first half by picking up two early fouls. He never got into a comfortable rhythm and struggled like he has for most of the season. Johnson finished with 12 points, but had eight turnovers, no assists, and eventually fouled out. Pitt needs him to be better, but did hit some key second half shots.

Eric Hamilton came off the bench and posted 13 points and 12 rebounds. Terrell Brown had a rough start, but finished with a nice showing of 8 points, 3 rebounds, and 2 blocked shots, though he altered many more.

Ryan Murphy also finished in double figures with 13 points.

Pitt continued to display some causes for concern: turnovers, lack of assists, no outside shooting. Through it all, the team muscled out a win by out-rebounding Kansas State 40-30 and shooting 18-of-21 from the free throw line.

Pitt is now 5-2 on the young season and will take on either Northwestern or Bradley on Wednesday night.