For the better part of the first half on Friday night, Pitt was in a battle with Binghamton.

The Bearcats pushed the Panthers far more than they had been pushed in Monday night’s opener against North Carolina A&T, making a few shots but mostly scrapping along on defense to make life difficult for Pitt.

Then, in a flash, the Panthers were firmly in control, taking a 20-point lead that they pushed into the 30’s on the way to a 89-60 win over the Bearcats at the Petersen Events Center.

The flash that keyed the turnaround for Pitt? It was the one that keyed so many victories a season ago:

Blake Hinson

After a rather quiet performance in the opener against North Carolina A&T, Hinson showed just exactly how he could rather abruptly change the course of a game on Friday night.

When Binghamton cut the lead to three at 21-18 with less than eight minutes left in the first half, Hinson broke the Bearcats’ scoring streak with a post-up basket before draining a three, and he later answered a Binghamton three with a drive for two point more points.

And after Binghamton got the lead to single digits with a buzzer-beater before halftime, Hinson came out of the locker room on fire. He drained a three, converted two free throws and hit another three in the first 101 seconds of the second half to push the lead to 16 and landed two more baskets to go over 20 points for the game.

Hinson would finish with 26 points on 8-of-14 shooting - including 16 points on 4-of-5 from the field in the second half - but he wasn’t the only Pitt player who put up numbers against Binghamton. Because for as impressive as Hinson was, Ishmael Leggett was every bit as impressive, posting his fourth career double-double with 18 points and 11 rebounds in addition to handing out five assists.

Bub Carrington didn’t match his triple-double from the opener, but he still scored 18 points - for the second time - and posted three rebounds and four assists.

Guillermo Diaz Graham also reached double figures with 12 points on 4-of-5 shooting, including 2-of-3 from deep.

All told, Pitt shot 7-of-15 from beyond the arc in the second half and 53-6% from the floor after halftime. The Panthers also blocked seven shots, recorded 11 steals and won the rebounding battle 50-32.

Pitt (2-0) will host Florida Gulf Coast on Monday night at the Petersen Events Center.