Pitt secured a huge 65-64 win over North Carolina on Wednesday evening. Pitt senior guard Jamarius Burton calmly buried two free throws down the stretch to give the Panthers the lead, and the team escaped a last possession from the Tar Heels. The win gives Pitt a season sweep over the Tar Heels, and the team has now won three consecutive games in Chapel Hill.
Here are three things that stood out from the game.
Mental Toughness
Pitt is simply a tough basketball team. Period.
The Panthers have are 6-2 in one possession basketball games this season, including their last three contests. Pitt beat Wake Forest by two last week, knocked off Miami by three on Saturday, and the team secured a one-point victory tonight. You do not win those types of games without mental toughness, and time and time again this season, this Pitt basketball team has displayed that.
Pitt also moved to 6-2 on the season in true road games, and they are 5-1 in league play away from the Petersen Events Center. The six road wins are the most of any team in the ACC this season.
Again, that’s a mental toughness thing.
It is not easy to win on the road, and there were times the Dean Smith Center got rocking, but each time Pitt weather the storm and did not allow North Carolina, team known for big scoring runs, to get one that changed the game. Pitt continued to stick around and eventually made their move.
The Tar Heels got up 46-40 around the 12-minute mark of the second half and the crowd promptly came alive. Pitt responded calmly with a 15-3 run sparked by three Nelly Cummings three-pointers to grab a 55-48 advantage. The Panthers eventually surrendered that lead late, but again, they forced a turnover on Armando Bacot, got the ball to Jamarius Burton, and he hit two clutch free throws to win the game.
Pitt has been down in recent seasons, to say the least, but they have had games the past five years where it came down to one possession or where a single loose ball or an extra free throw would make a difference. The previous Pitt teams did not know how to close out games, and the biggest improvement in this year’s squad is that they still can still play composed basketball in these tight games and it is showing up in the win column.
Burton in crunch time
One of the biggest reasons Pitt has been so good in crunch time this season is because of Jamarius Burton. The senior from Charlotte has been absolutely sensational this season and he is the man Pitt needs to ride in the final minutes of the game. Burton has done it in different ways all season, whether it be scoring, facilitating, or with his defense.
Burton’s two steals and two rebounds in the final minutes in the win over Miami propelled Pitt in that one, and tonight it was two free throws with the game on the line. Pitt had the ball with :27 seconds remaining and giving the ball to Burton seemed a little too obvious, but why not? He got right into the teeth of the defense and drew a foul on Carolina guard RJ Davis before stepping to the line in front of an announced crowd of 20,421 and gave his team the lead.
Burton was not at his best on Wednesday with a 6-for-18 shooting night, but he was at his best with the game on the line. He scored 12 of his 19 in the second half and was a perfect 6-for-6 from the free throw line for the game.
Pitt still has plenty of work to do before thinking about the NCAA Tournament, but if they do get into Big Dance, you need someone that can go make a play. Burton is that for Pitt and he has been all year. He deserves to be a first-team All-ACC pick, and he will if he continues to do what he has been doing.
Cummings came through
Nelly Cummings has only led Pitt in scoring twice this season. The first time was a December 10th game against Sacred Heart, and the second was tonight on the road against preseason ACC favorite North Carolina. He picked a heck of a time to come alive, and became one of the more unlikely heroes of this game.
Cummings has been a steadying presence as a point guard for Pitt this season, but his shooting has fluctuated,. Lately, it has been nowhere in sight. Cummings was 11-of-44 from the field in his last four games, but came out firing against North Carolina on Wednesday. The senior guard was 8-of-11 from the floor, and was 5-of-6 from deep. He carried the team in the first half with 12 points, and his three consecutive shots from long range helped turn the tides of the game.
Pitt has leaned heavily on Burton all season, but lately Blake Hinson has been the leader on offense. He was coming off of back-to-back 20-point games and torched Wake Forest for eight three-pointers a week ago. Hinson just wasn’t much of a factor this season. He found early foul trouble and only provided two points.
It’s a little amazing that Pitt could overcome its leading scorer only producing two points on the road, in a tough environment, against one of the most talented teams in the league, but that’s just how it has been this season. Pitt figures out ways to win, or they have new players step up in different games. Tonight it was Cummings, the next game…it could be anyone.
