Pitt men’s basketball lost 76-74 on the road to Wake Forest on Saturday afternoon in a crucial resume-building game. In the battle of two NCAA tournament hopefuls, the importance of each win increases as the NCAA tournament looms.
The game had the feel of a March Madness contest, with a multitude of lead changes, runs and clutch plays. Both teams failed to pull away as the match felt destined to go down to the wire. The physicality matched the intensity of the game, as the teams combined for 36 fouls.
After limited by illness the past two contests, Wake Forest senior guard Cameron Hildreth had his own “flu game,” scoring 24 points – a perfect three for three behind the arc.
For the Panthers, senior guard Damian Dunn played one of his best in the blue and gold. After missing seven games with a finger injury, Dunn returned to form. Dunn kept the Panthers in this game, leading Pitt with 24 points and four assists.
The game featured two squads trending in opposite directions. After a dangerous skid which saw Pitt drop four straight ACC games, the Panthers rebounded with back-to-back wins against Syracuse and North Carolina. On the other hand, Wake opened the new year with six straight conference wins but dropped their last two in tough matchups with Duke and Louisville.
Entering the Saturday noon-tip off, the matchup came down to a battle of strengths. The Demon Deacons boasted a shut-down defensive squad. They rank second in the ACC in forced turnovers with 296 and opponent field goal percentage at 39.0%. Wake especially excels at limiting three-pointers, holding opponents to an ACC-best 30.5% percent.
Meanwhile, the Panthers’ strength lies in their offense, anchored by elite guard play. Pitt ranks third in team field goal percentage, fourth in scoring and second in assist-to-turnover ratio at 1.41.
Outside of Dunn, the Demon Deacon defense successfully smothered the Pitt guards, leading to their hard-fought win. From the field, Dunn went eight of 13. In contrast, senior guard Ishmael Leggett and sophomore guard Jaland Lowe went a combined eight for 26.
Wake has struggled all season from behind the arc with an ACC-worst 28.2% three-point percentage. Conversely, the Panthers place fourth in the conference in three points made at 8.7 a game.
Flipping the switch from behind the arc proved crucial to Wake Forest. The Demon Deacons shot an uncharacteristic 8-19 from three, 13.9% better than their season average.
After struggling offensively and only scoring 11 points in the opening 10 minutes, head coach Jeff Capel called a much needed time-out. The Panthers looked sluggish across the board, surrendering to a 6-0 Demon Deacon run in 32 seconds and turning the ball over twice. With the score at 11-20, another Wake Forest run would turn this game into a blowout quickly.
Pitt men’s basketball answered the call coming out of the time out. Dunn drove the basket with authority, earning a three-point play. Then Leggett forced a turnover and gave the ball right back to Dunn, capitalizing on the fast break opportunity. After the Panthers forced a Wake Forest miss, Lowe pulled up from mid-range and buried the shot to make it a 6-0 Panther run.
After some back-and-forth play, Wake Forest held a six-point lead with 3:10 left in the half. Capel made another smart decision, switching to a zone defense. The Panther defense immediately forced a turnover, only allowing two points in the final three minutes. Once again, Dunn took control of the game when the Panthers needed him. He made a crafty layup and a dagger three, assisted by Lowe, for the first Pitt lead since 6:22.
After the Demon Deacons momentarily retook the lead, Lowe baited Wake into a bad foul on his three-point attempt. Lowe then drilled all three free throws, and the Panthers entered the second half with a two-point lead.
Out of the gate, Pitt furthered the lead after another Dunn three-pointer, extending the lead to 39-34.
This time around, the Demon Deacons had the answers with an 8-0 lead. Undeterred by its regular season struggles, Wake drilled back-to-back threes to regain control of the game. After Wake Forest pushed its lead to eight following a three from senior guard Cameron Hildreth, the roller coaster continued as Pitt responded once against.
Junior forward Guillermo Diaz Graham scored his first five points in less than a minute, with an emphatic dunk, forcing a Wake Forest time-out. Pitt pulled back to within one, making the 53-52 Wake Forest.
As the game approached its end, the Demon Deacons clung to a slim lead. Every shot one squad made, the other had a response, as each team refused to go down.
Pitt’s clutch free throw shooting proved crucial down the stretch. Zack Austin made both to tie the game at 63. Then after an impressive shot, completely smothered, Wakes’s leading scorer, senior Hunter Sallis, retook the lead. Sallis proved especially clutch, scoring 11 of 13 points in the second half.
Leggett then made both his free throws to tie the match at 65. Then for the shot of the match, Sallis drained his first three of the night. After taking the 68-56 lead, Wake never looked back.
Even after some last-minute dramatics between fouling and inbounding, Wake Forest held on for the 76-74 win.
The Panthers return to action on Monday, Feb. 3, taking on UVA at the Petersen Events Center.
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