Pitt entered Wednesday's game a heavy favorite against Boston College. The Panthers sure did not play like it from the start. The Eagles led by as many as 14 points in the first half, but Pitt seemed to grab control in the second half.
Boston College did not roll over, however. The Eagles tied the game in the waning seconds thanks to a furious run, but a Ryan Murphy jumper gave Pitt a 74-72 win as Justin Champagnie stole the inbounds pass to secure the win at the Petersen Events Center.
Pitt found itself trailing 33-19 with 3:21 remaining in the first half, but the Panthers scored the final nine points of the half and opened the second half 10-2 as a part of a 19-2 run on either side of halftime.
The Panthers outscored the Eagles 46-39 in the second half, but had to survive a late run by the Eagles. Pitt was up by 10 with 4:22 left in the game, but the Eagles managed to chip away and tie the game with :12 seconds remaining before Murphy's heroics.
Pitt found its outside shooting stroke in the second half, as the Panthers connected on four 3-pointers in a three minute stretch of the second half, including a pair by Ryan Murphy. The junior guard finished with 11 points.
Pitt was led offensively by freshman forward Justin Champagnie, as he finished with 17 points and 19 rebounds. It marks the fourth career double-double for the Brooklyn native. He sparked Pitt's run at the end of the first half with six points, including one at the buzzer. Au'Diese Toney added 16 points and 5 boards. He kept Pitt's offense afloat with 9 points in the first half.
The sophomore backcourt of Xavier Johnson and Trey McGowens had a rough start to the game. Johnson committed four first half turnovers, but cleaned things up a bit to finish with 9 points and 10 assists, which ties a career-high in that department.
McGowens poured in 14 points, with 12 coming in the second half. Pitt out-rebounded the Eagles 31-26 and forced Boston College into 15 turnovers. The Eagles have now lost four straight conference games since upsetting Virginia on January 7th.
Boston College seemed up to the task early on, especially shooting the ball from deep. The Eagles entered Wednesday shooting 28.6% from 3-point range, but made 10 from behind the arc against Pitt. Jay Heath finished with 16 points, including four 3-pointers.
The win improves Pitt's record to 13-6 on the season, and evens its ACC record to 4-4. Pitt's four ACC wins exceeds its conference win total from last season, and the 13 wins ties Pitt's regular season total from a year ago.
Pitt travels to Syracuse on Saturday for a noon tip against the Orange. Jim Boeheim's team is surging of late and has won four games in a row, including an 84-82 thriller over Notre Dame tonight. Pitt will be looking for its first three-game conference winning streak since the 2015-16 season.
