Pitt opens Spain trip with a win
Blake Hinson scored 25 points and Zack Austin chipped In 16 as Pitt beat Tenerife All-Stars 86-80 to open its overseas trip to Spain.
The Panthers started the game with this lineup:
Carlton Carrington
Ishmael Leggett
Zack Austin
Blake Hinson
Guillermo Diaz Graham
Here's the official recap from Pitt:
TENERIFE, CANARY ISLANDS, SPAIN – Blake Hinson and Zack Austin combined for 42 points with eight three-point field goals as Pitt overcame a slow start to post an 86-80 win over the Tenerife All-Stars Wednesday evening in the opening game of their 10-day trip to the Canary Islands and Barcelona.
Following three days of travel and site-seeing in the Canary Islands, Pitt got off to a cold shooting start in the opening quarter. The Panthers fell behind 22-13 after 10 minutes with transfer Ishmael Leggett providing a lift on the offensive end with Pitt’s first seven points of the game. The Tenerife All-Stars, a team compromised of professional players from around Spain, hit three three-pointers in the opening quarter and scored a late breakaway layup following a clock malfunction that caused the Panthers to stop play.
Hinson came out hotter than the sweltering gym in the second quarter making four consecutive three-point attempts en route to a 16-point quarter. Guillermo Diaz Graham, playing near his hometown and in front of numerous family and friends, added seven points in the 10-minute stanza as Pitt outscored the opposition 28-22 to head into halftime trailing by a narrow 44-41 margin.
Hinson added six more points early in the third quarter before Austin took over with a dazzling display of athleticism and three-point shooting. The Winston-Salem, N.C., native following his first three-pointer of the game with a defensive rebound and posterizing dunk over a Tenerife defender to give the Panthers a 54-53 lead and force a timeout by the host team as the Pitt bench and the entire crowd erupted. Austin added two more threes, a finish in the lane, and another highlight reel dunk off a pass off the backboard from Dior Johnson to finish the quarter with 15 points. Pit outscored the Tenerife All-Stars 27-15 in the quarter to grab a 68-59 advantage.
Austin pushed the Pitt lead to 12 points with his fourth three-pointer of the night early in the final stanza. Diaz Graham knocked down a pair of three-pointers in the fourth quarter and Johnson, Hinson, and Leggett had strong finishes in traffic to help hold off a late surge by the hosts.
Pitt received a strong floor game from its freshman guard Carleton Carrington and Jaland Lowe. Carrington had a game-high nine assists to go along with seven rebounds and three steals, while Lowe went 1-of-2 from three-point range and had five assists. Freshman forward Papa Amadou Kante posted a team-high eight rebounds, including four offensive boards, for the Panthers.
Coming off a season in which they set a school record for three-point field goals, the Panthers went 14-of-31 (.452) from beyond the arch in their first competition together. Tenerife hit 11 three-pointers in the contest but just three in the second half of play. All three of the Tenerife second half threes came late in the contest after Pitt had built a double-digit lead.
Pitt will now head to Barcelona where it will tour 1992 Olympic competition venues and enjoy the city before playing its second game of the trip.
Stats Leaders
Points
Blake Hinson 24
Zack Austin 18
Ishmael Leggett 13
G. Diaz Graham 13
Rebounds
Papa Amadou Kante 8
Carlton Carrington 7
G. Diaz Graham 6
Zack Austin 5
Blake Hinson 5
Dior Johnson 4
Assists
Carlton Carrington 9
Jaland Lowe 5
Steals
Carlton Carrington 3
Zack Austin 2
Dior Johnson 2
Blocks
G. Diaz Graham 2
Zack Austin 2
3FG
Blake Hinson 4
Zack Austin 4
G. Diaz Graham 3
