Men's Basketball Loses To Pittsburgh, 62-51

Men's Basketball Loses To Pittsburgh, 62-51

Jan. 3, 2001

Box Score

PITTSBURGH (AP) – Brandin Knight scored 21 points to lead Pittsburgh to a62-51 victory against Miami in the Big East Conference opener for both teamsWednesday night.

Knight drilled four 3-pointers, including his first three shots, while thePanthers (9-3) were 8-for-18 from long range. They secured the win with solidfree-throw shooting and made 14 of 19 from the line overall.

The Hurricanes (8-4) fell behind early, eventually trailing by as much as 12points, 19-7, as Pittsburgh hit 5-for-5 from 3-point range. But they got withinone, 24-23, on four 3-point shots and were as close as three points, 50-47, ontwo free throws by Darius Rice with 4:42 remaining. But Miami never led andcouldn’t get any closer down the stretch.

Knight scored 14 of his points in the first half, as Pittsburgh led 31-26 athalftime. The Panthers were 5-for-10 from 3-point range, including three fromKnight and one each from Julius Page and Zelimir Stevanovic.

Miami got two 3-point shots from Rice, who led the Hurricanes with 13points, and one each from Joe Gordon and Marcus Barnes to keep the score close.But Rice scored just two points in the second half.

Pittsburgh made 10 of its first 12 free throws, its best performance fromthe line all season.