Pitt hits 16 3-pointers in 90-65 rout of Boston College
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Coaches in any sport demand that their players stay in the moment and forget about the past no matter how good or bad it looks in the rearview mirror.
After Pitt’s 90-65 victory against Boston College on Saturday night, assistant coach Milan Brown allowed his thoughts to drift a bit to last season when the Panthers ended up in the NCAA Tournament. A road victory fueled by 16 3-pointers that kept Pitt’s 2024 tournament hopes alive might have a tendency to do that.
“We had a couple of games like this (last season) where we started off making a few 3s and the other team knew it might be a long day,” Brown said, speaking on the 93.7 FM postgame show.
A few 3s? Pitt scored its first 21 points in seven increments of three through the game’s first six minutes to take a 21-9 lead.
That early surge broke down into six 3-pointers: two each by Blake Hinson and Bub Carrington and one each from Jaland Lowe and Zack Austin. Hinson added a traditional three-point play when he scored on a layup and added a free throw.
Boston College (15-14, 6-12 ACC) rallied to within 23-21, but Pitt never trailed on the way to its ninth victory in the past 12 games. Each of Pitt’s most recent four victories have been by double-digit margins.
The Panthers (19-10, 10-8) need one more win to put 20-victory seasons back-to-back for the first time since 2012-2013 and 2013-2014. The last two regular-season games will be at Petersen Events Center, starting with Florida State on Tuesday and N.C. State next Saturday.
Certainly the most impressive aspect of the victory was the 3-point shooting, matching the season-high 16 the Panthers recorded at West Virginia. Pitt nearly shot a better percentage outside the 3-point arc (53.3) than inside it (54.8) for an overall accuracy rate of 54.1%. The Panthers scored more points on 3s than on 2s (48-34).
And they also knew what to do with the basketball when they weren’t shooting, recording 20 assists on 33 made baskets.
Carrington led the way with a career-high 27 points (7 of 12 beyond the arc, tying a Pitt freshman record) and five assists. Hinson added 19, even though he played only six minutes in the first half because of foul trouble. Lowe had 12 points and nine assists, Zack Austin 10 points and Federiko Federiko and Guillermo Diaz Graham eight each.
Hinson was pleased with the victory, but he was not awed by the enormity of it or of Carrington’s contributions. He said it’s all based on teammates trusting each other.
“That’s awesome,” he said on the postgame show. “That’s his level of play, though. It doesn’t really shock me much, but I’m happy for him.
“That’s our job. That’s what we need to do. This being my last year, I definitely want to seize these type of moments.
“Kudos to the practice we had this week. We practice hard. Once you practice hard and everybody sees that everybody’s all in on winning and working hard to get better and perfecting their craft, the trust follows up.”
The offense flowed smoothly, but it wouldn’t be right to ignore the role Pitt’s defense played Saturday and in recent weeks. In the past six victories, opponents are averaging only 62.5 points per game.
Boston College center Quinten Post scored nearly half of his team’s points (30), but he had little help. Pitt was content to allow Post to score 14 baskets because his teammates totaled only 13.
“We knew it was going to be a tough ask for (bigs Federiko and Diaz Graham) to try and handle him,” Brown said, revealing part of Pitt’s game plan. “Because so much of the offense runs through him, and he is so skilled to play on the perimeter and he can play in the post.
“We weren’t going to double him. If he can score 30, and they beat us, it is what it is. I don’t know if he can do that. He might have to get 50 for them. No one else had double figures, but one guy. As much as he scored on us offensively, he gave up a lot of things on the other end.”
Post finished with a plus/minus ratio of minus-30.
After the game, Carrington was asked on the ACC Network if he’s thinking about his candidacy for conference Freshman of the Year.
“Not even close,” he said. “I’m trying to get to the (NCAA) tournament. I want to be there. That’s all.”
The Panthers still have plenty of work to do to earn a tournament bid, and the odds might be stacked against them. The victory moved Pitt into a three-way tie for fifth place with Clemson and Wake Forest, a half-game behind Syracuse.
Hinson understands the situation.
“It’s March 2,” he said. “It’s time if you want to play extra basketball to get your concentration level at the highest point.”