National Basketball Association
Pittsburgh 81, NC State 73
When: 7:45 PM ET, Saturday, March 9, 2024
Where: Petersen Events Center, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Officials:
# Jemel Spearman, # Jamie Luckie, # Courtney Green
Attendance:
10700
By Field Level Media
Carlton Carrington poured in 23 points as Pittsburgh completed its regular season with an 81-73 victory over visiting North Carolina State on Saturday night.
The Panthers (21-10, 12-8 Atlantic Coast Conference) ended the season on a three-game winning streak, allowing them to clinch a top-four seed in the conference for a double bye in next week's ACC tournament.
Blake Hinson added 21 points for Pitt, while Ishmael Leggett finished with nine points and eight rebounds.
Jayden Taylor had a game-high 28 points and added seven boards for the Wolfpack (17-14, 9-11). DJ Burns Jr. had nine points and four rebounds.
After Taylor made a layup to put North Carolina State up 23-21 with 8:42 to go in the first half, the Panthers closed the period on an 18-6 run to take a 39-29 lead into the break.
That half-ending outburst included a 10-1 spurt that Burns put a stop to with a jumper with 4:40 to go. Federiko Federiko followed with a dunk, Carrington converted a layup and Hinson made a successful trip to the foul line to bump the Panthers' lead to 11 at 37-26.
Taylor's three-point play ahead of a Hinson jumper created the 10-point margin at intermission. With a windmill dunk, Zack Austin emphatically helped the Panthers go up by as many as 17 just under 3 1/2 minutes into the second half.
North Carolina State wouldn't come within single digits of Pitt until Taylor sank a pair of treys in a 30-second span, making it a six-point game, 70-64, with 4:41 to play. Taylor converted a pair of free throws at the 3:59 mark, then one more 1:33 later to make it 70-67.
Federiko stopped the bleeding with a layup, Carrington and Taylor traded threes and the Wolfpack regrouped with 59 seconds left. Out of that timeout, Guillermo Diaz Graham put down a dunk and added a free throw after being fouled to give Pitt a 78-70 advantage.
Carrington answered a Mohamed Diarra trey with two free throws, and Austin made another foul shot before the final buzzer.
--Field Level Media
Top Game Performances
| NC State |
|
Pittsburgh |
|
Jayden Taylor 28 |
Scoring |
Carlton Carrington 23 |
|
D.J. Burns Jr. 4 |
Assists |
Carlton Carrington 6 |
|
Mohamed Diarra 9 |
Rebounds |
Federiko Federiko 9 |
|
Jayden Taylor 5 |
Free Throws Made |
Carlton Carrington 3 |
|
Jayden Taylor 2 |
Steals |
Zack Austin 2 |
|
Mohamed Diarra 1 |
Blocks |
Zack Austin 1 |
Team Stats Summary
| Team |
Points |
FG% |
3PM-3PA |
FTM-FTA |
Assists |
Rebounds |
Blocks |
Steals |
Turnovers |
| NC State
|
73 |
46.4 |
9-23 |
12-16 |
12 |
33 |
3 |
3 |
10 |
| Pittsburgh
|
81 |
50.0 |
8-20 |
9-12 |
16 |
31 |
3 |
5 |
5 |
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