Pitt Survives

Pittsburgh rode a 20-2 run at the end of the second to beat Louisville, 65-59. Antonio Graves netted 10 of his 23 during Pitt's run and secured the Panthers in the Big East title game against Georgetown. With a win in the Championship Pitt can make a bid for a two seed while, a Hoya win could give them an argument to be a number 1. The Panthers were led by Graves and were helped by Mike Green who added 13 of his own to complement his 8 boards. Terrence Williams had 18 points and 7 rebounds and Earl Clark added 12 boards for the second seeded Cardinals. Louisville led by 11 at the half but for the second straight game they blew a big lead. Pitt, the best 3-point shooting team in the Big East was 0-11 from behind the arc in the first half but they got their act together netting 7 of their last 10 attempts from downtown. Pitt gained the lead just under six minutes into the second and never gave it back. Louisville lost 10 of it's last 11 at Madison Square Garden which isn't good for Rick Pitino's Redbirds, who will have to find some way to break this streak if they want to half any chance in next years tourney. Louisville will still be in the dance but their chances of a top 8 seed have been crushed by the Panthers.