Panthers nip Hoyas in Big East action
PITTSBURGH – Everything that could go wrong Saturday did for Pittsburgh against Georgetown at the Petersen Events Center. The Panthers made mistakes in almost every aspect of the game, but none as bad as missing 17 free throws (24-41), including three in the last 22 seconds that could have put the game out of reach.
The Panthers (15-1, 5-0) showed why they are the second-ranked team in the country, however, when guard Julius Page sunk a free throw with less than one second left to give Pittsburgh a 65-64 hard-fought Big East win over the Hoyas.
“I’m a junior now and absolutely have to hit a free throw in such a clutch situation,” Page said. “I knew I didn’t have much time left, so I just caught the ball and headed for the hoop to try to score, but was tripped on the way.”
The last-second point was made possible by an inbound pass from Jaron Brown to Page that sailed almost the full length of the court.
Pittsburgh head coach Ben Howland instructed Brown not to throw an inbound home run pass as both teams took the floor for what was the final play of the game. He ignored his coach’s orders and had the guts to throw a home run pass anyway.
“I specifically told him not to throw a home-run pass because if it was not caught, they (Georgetown) would get the ball under their own hoop,” Howland said. “He was supposed to throw it to Karl (Krauser) who as open on the play, but God bless him for completing the home run pass, because it led to Julius’ (Page) free throw that won the game.”
Brown told a different story after the game.
“I thought Karl was going to get trapped on the play and I saw Julius break open down the court, so I just threw it,” Brown said. “Coach told me not to throw it long, but I felt that’s what I had to do on that play.”
After a day when the Panthers made a lot of mistakes, besides at the free throw line, rebounding, and in the fouls column, they also committed fouls in key situations, turned the ball over 16 times, and had seven shots blocked and four balls stolen, it was fitting the last play was actually a mistake, but turned out good for Pittsburgh.
“We created a lot of problems for ourselves today, but still had the depth and desire to recover and fight back to preserve the win and stay undefeated in the (Big East) conference,” Howland said. “This was a big-time win for us against a tough, physical, very good Georgetown team.”
For the first time this season, Pittsburgh was out-rebounded, 35-29, as Georgetown (10-5, 2-3) maintained its reputation as being one of the most physical teams in the country. The Hoyas committed 33 fouls with three of their players fouling out. The Panthers almost matched them foul-for-foul, however, committing 25 of their own, with two players fouling out.
“The defense was our staple again tonight, although we are not used to being out-rebounded,” Howland said. “We held their best player (Mike Sweetney) to only 12 points and were able to make some key defensive plays late in the game.”
The Panthers came out of the locker room shooting as cold as the weather in the Northeast this week and made only one field goal, 3-pointer by Julius Page, in the first nine minutes of the game. They fell behind early, 7-1, and never led in the first half, trailing 29-25 at the break.
“I thought at times we played in stretches as good as we played all year,” Georgetown head coach Craig Esherick said. “This (Petersen) is a tough place to play and we lost today to a very, very good team who are definitely one of the best teams in the country.”
Howland blamed his team for being impatient and rushing shots in the first half as the reason the Panthers could not find an offensive rhythm. He credited the team in settling down on offense in the second half and finding good shots.
“We shot 14 three-pointers in the first half and only made four,” Howland said. “We did a much better job of breaking their (2-3 zone) defense in the second half by finding better shots.”
Pittsburgh forward Chevon Troutman was the recipient of most of those made shots as he awoke in the second half and scored 19 points after only scoring one in the first half. He led all scorers with 20 points. More importantly, the 40-percent free throw shooter made 10-of-10 from the free throw line on a day when the Panthers had a hard time buying a made foul shot.
“I was able to get open on the baseline in the second half and convert all my shots,” Troutman said. “As far as being perfect from the free throw line, I was just feeling it today.”
The free throw line has been a gaping weakness in the Panthers’ arsenal all year and this game was no different. Center Toree Morris was forced into playing 14 minutes due to foul trouble and shot 0-of-5 from the line. The only time he made a free throw all day was nullified on a Pittsburgh lane violation.
Donatas Zavackas in the team’s best free throw shooter, so the 12,508 fans in attendance were resting easy with 14 seconds left and Zavackas was put on the line for two shots and a two-point Panther lead , 64-62. He missed both free throws, which opened up the door for Georgetown, who rushed through it with three seconds left.
Hoya forward Brandan Bowman knifed through the lane with three seconds left in regulation and was fouled by Zavackas. He converted both free throws to tie the game to apparently send it into overtime before the Panthers sealed the deal.
“I was shocked when Donatas missed both of those free throws,” Howland said.
The Panthers will now take their perfect Big East record and No. 2 ranking on the road as they travel to Syracuse Saturday night. Syracuse is in second place, trailing Pittsburgh, in the Big East Conference-Western Division.