Pittsburgh came in with a game plan to shut down Hasheem Thabeet and executed it as close to perfection as they could.
Levance Fields hit two key three-pointers down the stretch and the No. 4 Panthers hit most of their free throws down the stretch to knock off the No. 1 UConn Huskies 76-68 before a national audience on ESPN and a sold-out XL Center in Hartford, CT.
With 3:12 in the game and the score tied at 61, Fields, who had been held scoreless to this point, hit a 3-pointer to put the Panthers ahead. After A.J. Price missed a 3-pointer, Fields was feeling and launched another three to put Pitt up 6 forcing Jim Calhoun to call a timeout.
After missed shots by UConn and Pittsburgh, Kemba Walker stole the ball from Field and made an uncontested layup to make it 67-63. But that was as close as the Huskies would get as they went cold and Pittsburgh made 4-of-6 free throws down the stretch to ice the game.
The loss for the Huskies drops their record to 24-2 (12-2 Big East) and ends a 13-game winning streak while the Panthers improve to 24-2 (11-2). UConn still is on top in the Big East though by a 1/2 game over the Pitt.
Price led the Huskies with 18 points and 8 assists. Jeff Adrien had 13 points and 9 rebounds and Walker, who did a great job on Fields, had 13 points off the bench. Stanley Robinson chipped in with 8 points and 10 rebounds. Thabeet finished with just 5 points, 4 rebounds and 2 blocks before fouling out late in the game.
DeJuan Blair was an absolute beast tonight and backed up his word about attacking Thabeet and the Huskies down low. He finished with 22 points and a career-high 23 rebounds. Sam Young led all scorers in the game with 25 points. Jermaine Dixon added 11 points and Fields finished with 10.
UConn struggled early on from the floor and Pittsburgh got out to a 15-8 lead behind 10 points by Young. With Pitt up 23-15, Price led a 9-2 run that got the Huskies back in the game. Blair ended up scoring the final 13 points of the half for the Panthers, including a 7-0 run that gave the Panthers a 36-28 lead. Price nailed a three before the buzzer to cut Pitt’s lead to 36-33.
Craig Austrie got the Huskies going in the second half with a three pointer to tie the game at 36. That was a close as the Huskies would get until a Walker layup with 9:50 to go in the game gave the Huskies only their second lead of the game 50-49. UConn would push that lead to 56-51 before two free throws by Dixon tied the game at 61.
The Huskies are back in action on Saturday afternoon when the host the South Florida Bulls at 2 PM at the XL Center. The game will be covered locally on MyTV9.
Notes and musings:
Pittsburgh Panthers @ UConn Huskies 2.16.09 men’s basketball box score
The starters were A.J. Price, Craig Austrie, Stanley Robinson, Jeff Adrien and Hasheem Thabeet.
This was the first win for the Panthers over a No. 1 team. They had been 0-13.
This was the third time this season UConn had trailed at the half. They had been 1-1 in the previous two games.
UConn is now 40-8 as the No. 1 team.
The Huskies shot 43.3% (26-of-60) from the floor while the Panthers shot 40.0% (26-of-65).
UConn had assists on half (13) of their baskets.
The Huskies were 5-of-17 (29.4%) from beyond the arc while the Panthers were 8-of-19 (42.1%).
UConn was 11-of-17 (64.7%) from the free throw line while Pitt was 16-of-20 (80.0%).
This was the first time UConn was outrebounded this year (48-31).
UConn outscored Pitt 28-26 in the paint.
The Huskies took good care of the ball turning it over 9 times while the Panthers had 14.
