Pitt's plan: 'Put it in JB's hands'

On Tuesday night at the University of Dayton Arena, Burton’s knack for big plays converged with the magic of the NCAA Tournament in Pitt’s nail-biting 60-59 win over Mississippi State.

Mississippi State took a late 59-58 lead on a Tolu Smith layup with 32 seconds remaining, setting the stage for Burton to go to work on Pitt’s final possession.

“When I got the ball, I just told myself that I’m built for it,” Burton told reporters after the game. "I’ve been in this position with the ball in my hands throughout this season and last year where it came down to me taking a shot, so I just told myself I’m built for it and gave myself the confidence and got to a spot and let it go.”

Burton rose to the occasion and became one of the first heroes of this year’s tournament. The senior guard got into the teeth of the Bulldogs' defense, pivoted, shot-faked and calmly buried a step-back jumper to give his team the lead with 9.8 seconds remaining.

Pitt then escaped a final possession by Mississippi State in which the Bulldogs got three different game-winning looks to preserve the win and grab the program’s first NCAA Tournament victory since 2014, and the first under Jeff Capel.

The last possession was pretty simple to Pitt forward Blake Hinson.

“Put it in JB’s hands,” he explained. “That’s it.”

Burton has been Pitt’s quiet leader all season, and he has had the game in his hands multiple times this year. But on Tuesday, it was under different circumstances than usual.

The first-team All-ACC selection only played 19 minutes on against the Bulldogs He picked up his fourth foul with 12 minutes left in the second half and spent most of the game on the bench. Burton finished with six points total, but his only second-half field goal was the game-winner.

Burton said he tried to remain positive on the bench and tried to be vocal for his teammates as he awaited his opportunity.

“I just knew going out there and have an opportunity to play down the stretch that I could make an impact to help us win,” he explained.

While Burton was on the bench, sixth man Nike Sibande tried to pick up the slack. Sibande played 23 minutes and scored 11 points and grabbed five rebounds. As the game got tight, he knew Burton would be ready for the moment.

“JB was fighting foul trouble all night,” Sibande said. “I think he had like four fouls, so he was really fighting it all night, but to continue to persevere and come in and make that shot to put us up, it was huge. It was a huge shot. We needed it and we needed everybody tonight, every bucket counted and we’re going to continue to build.”

Pitt is now 7-3 in one-possession games this season; as a result, the Panthers are seemingly very comfortable in these kinds of situations, and Tuesday’s game felt like a dog fight all night. Outside of a brief Pitt run in the second half, it was a one-possession game for virtually the final 32 minutes.

“We’ve been in these positions before,” said Burton. “We’re a type of team that’s resilient and fights to the end, so I knew that we were built for the type of moment that we were in.”

The NCAA Tournament will provide plenty more opportunities for clutch moments in tense situations, and for a team that has had success in those situations, it could be an advantage.

The Panthers return to action on Friday against sixth-seeded Iowa State in Greensboro. The Cyclones are 3-4 in one-possession games this season. In a postseason setting that seems to come down to every detail, perhaps that is something to watch heading into Friday.

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