Pitt pounds Louisville, improves to 6-2 in ACC games
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If the numbers on Greg Elliott’s stat line looked bad, he either didn’t notice or merely believed a reversal of misfortune was in order.
He trusted his ability to make shots, kept firing and ended up Wednesday night with a Pitt career-high 23 points in a 75-54 victory against Louisville at KFC Yum! Center.
The victory was Pitt’s first in 11 games at the Yum! Center and improved the Panthers’ overall record to 13-6. More significantly, Pitt is now 6-2 in the ACC, matching its conference victory total during each of the past three seasons.
Pitt led for 30 of the game’s 40 minutes, with Elliott enjoying a night worth remembering.
He had shot only 22.2% from the field (13 of 45) and scored a total of 48 points in the previous six games, but he responded with shrug of the shoulders and the courage to keep shooting. He hit 9 of 12 shots, 5 of 8 from beyond the 3-point arc and added four rebounds, two assists and no turnovers in a team-high 37 minutes. He also credited a shooting tip from former Pitt star Curtis Aiken, a member of the 93.7 FM broadcast team who had watched him in pregame warmups.
“I just kept shooting the basketball,” Elliott said on the postgame radio show. “My team kept me with confidence. I had confidence in myself. It was sticking with it.
“Just because I wasn’t making shots doesn’t mean anything. Everybody knows I can shoot. I just have to keep shooting.”
Elliott had plenty of help.
Jamarius Burton recorded 10 points and a career-high 11 assists, Blake Hinson and Federiko Federiko each scored eight and reserves Nike Sibande, Guillermo Diaz Graham and Nate Santos contributed a total of 23 points and 13 rebounds.
“On any given night, any guy on our team can take over whatever role we need him to take over,” Elliott said.
The first half offered evidence that players who start aren’t necessarily those who make all the plays.
The Panthers seized a 37-28 halftime lead by hitting seven 3-pointers, six coming from Sibande (four), Diaz Graham and Santos.
Sibande led Pitt in scoring in the first half with 12 points — all on 3-pointers. Seven of Pitt’s first eight field goals came from beyond the 3-point arc.
A 19-2 Pitt run turned a 14-10 deficit into a 29-16 advantage in only 4 1/2 minutes.
The closest Louisville came after that was six points off the lead early in the second half. But Pitt responded by scoring 36 points in the final 16 minutes, 40 seconds.
Louisville (2-17, 0-8) lost its eighth game in a row. The Cardinals haven’t won since Dec. 17 against Florida A&M.
After getting 10 second-chance points in the first half, Louisville managed only five after halftime while Pitt did a better job grabbing missed shots.
For the game, Pitt was outrebounded by only one, 34-33, thanks in large part to Diaz Graham, who had a game-high eight while playing 19 minutes.
“Our team is just energy. You can feel it,” Diaz Graham said. “The best thing is how we share the energy. Me coming from the bench, Nate coming from the bench, Nike coming from the bench, we keep the same energy and we just share it.
“It’s every day. Shoot-arounds, walk-throughs, energy is incredible. Everyone on the bench can step up and make the plays.”
The victory was important for Pitt’s hopes of securing its first NCAA Tournament bid since 2016. A loss to a struggling Louisville team would have been difficult to overcome.
The victory shoved Pitt into a four-way tie for second place in the ACC, one game behind Clemson.
Such talk with 12 games left in the regular season doesn’t mean much to the players in the locker room.
“We’re just going to stay humble and keep working every day,” Diaz Graham said.