Pitt Stuns Stanford in ACC Tournament

0:00On March 10th, in a stunning first round upset at the ACC tournament, the 15th-seated Pitt Panthers edged the 10th-seated Stanford Cardinal, 64-63 on Tuesday afternoon in Charlotte. Pitt's senior point guard, Demarco Minor, grabbed his own miss and scored a layup with just 0.07 seconds left, then teammate Roman. Seal up a block to inbound pass to seal the win. Pitt controlled the game with tough defense and physical play, outscoring Stanford, 44-32 in the pain while grabbing 20, offensive rebounds for 25-second chance points. They also held Stanford's star freshman, Ibuka Okori, the ACC's leading scorer, 23.1 points per game, to just 14 points on, poor shooting. This victory flips the script from their February 25 loss to Stanford, where Pitt couldn't contain Okori's 34-point explosion. Minor's lockdown defense on him was huge, even if his offense was quiet beyond the game-winner, helping Pitt stay in control during a 10-second, half-full of lead changes.

1:05Stanford's defeat likely ends their NCAA tournament hopes, dropping them to 20 wins and 12 losses and pointing toward the NIT instead. Pitt got balanced scoring from four double-digit contributors, including 16 points from Barry Dunning, Jr., and 14 with seven rebounds, from Ceulepa. Now 13 wins and 19 losses, Pitt advances to face seventh-seated NC State at noon on Wednesday. The Wolf packs it at 19 and 12, but have dropped six of their last seven, setting up a quick revenge shot after NC State's 81-2. 72 win over Pitt, back in January.