Blake Hinson's wild three-point heave attempt in the final seconds was off the mark, and Miami escaped with a 78-76 win over Pitt to capture a share of the ACC regular season title. Pitt dropped to 21-10 on the year with the loss and the Panthers have a 14-6 mark in ACC play heading into the ACC Tournament.
Pitt trailed for over 31 minutes in this game against the Hurricanes, including the entire second half, but still found a way to stay in it and had a chance to tie or take the lead on the final possession. The Panthers were down 78-71 with 35 seconds remaining, but Hinson hit consecutive baskets, including a tough fadeaway three-pointer with :13 seconds remaining to make it a two-point game.
Miami's Norchad Omier missed the front end of a one and one attempt, but Pitt's last possession was rushed and the Panthers could not come up with a good look, and lost a second consecutive game to close out the regular season.
Pitt shot a better percentage from the floor and made more three-pointers than Miami, but the game came down to the rebounding margin. The Hurricanes out-rebounded Pitt 42-20, and came down with 14 offensive rebounds for the game. Miami edged Pitt 25-7 in second chance points.
Hinson finished with a game-high 24 points, including 17 in the second half. He finished with six three-pointers, including four in the second half. Pitt also received doible figure efforts from Nike Sibande (16), Jamaris Burton (13), and Nelly Cummings (10).
The Panthers outscored Miami 38-36 in the second half, but some defensive deficiencies put them in a hole in the first place. Miami shot 48% from the floor in the first half and took a 42-38 advantage into the break. Pitt allowed 40 points in the second half of the win over Syracuse, in both halves against Notre Dame, and in the first half on Saturday.
Pitt did hold Miami star player Isaiah Wong to 9 points on 1-of-9 from the floor, but the Hurricanes found other options to keep the production up in this one. Wooga Poplar came into Saturday averaging 7.9 points per game, but topped Miami with 18 points on six made three-pointers. Omier provided 15 points and 13 rebounds as well.
Pitt had opportunities to cut into the lead, but seemingly Miami had an answer each time. Cummings and Hinson hit back-to-back three-pointers to make it 666-63 momentarily, but Poplar's three answered that mini run immediately.
Jeff Capel's team tightened the defense down the stretch, as Miami only had one made field goal in the final three minutes. Pitt's late surge was reminiscent of their win over Miami back in January where they had an 11-0 run in the final minutes, but on the road the Panthers were unable to finish the job and complete the comeback.
Pitt seemed destined for a first round bye in the ACC Tournament for weeks, but following a Duke win and a likely Clemson win over Notre Dame, the Panthers have fallen back to the No. 5 seed for the ACC Tournament. The Panthers' have been inside of the NCAA Tournament according to most bracketologists, but a loss certainly makes things interesting.
The Panthers will return to action on Wednesday in the ACC Tournament.
