No. 20 Miami Falls To No. 7 Pittsburgh, 76-71
March 8, 2002
By HAL BOCK
AP Sports Writer
NEW YORK – Brandin Knight and Julius Page took over down the stretchand led No. 7 Pittsburgh to its second straight Big East tournamentchampionship game by beating No. 20 Miami 76-71 Friday night.
Knight tied the tournament record with 14 assists and scored 20 points forthe Panthers (27-4), who lost last year’s title game to Boston College.
Miami (24-7), which got a career-high 30 points from Elton Tyler, led 58-54,and Pitt was in trouble with big man Ontario Lett charged with his fourthpersonal foul with 8:06 to play.
But Knight and Page, who had 16 points, would not let the Panthers fall anyfarther behind.
Page hit a pair of 3-pointers and saved the ball in a scramble, finding Lettfor a basket that put Pitt in front at 61-60. Two straight baskets by JaronBrown opened the lead to 68-62. Then Knight, the conference co-player of theyear, scored and hit Page with an alley-oop pass for another basket.
Now Pitt held a nine-point lead at 74-65, but Miami wasn’t done. A basketand free throw by Tyler and a 3-pointer by John Salmons made it 74-71, and theHurricanes had the ball with 24 seconds to play.
But Salmon’s pass glanced off Tyler’s hands under the basket, and Page addeda pair of free throws to seal the victory.
Knight’s assists total matched the tournament record set by Mark Jackson forSt. John’s and Pearl Washington for Syracuse, both in 1986. Knight also had 14assists against West Virginia this season.
Marcus Barnes, playing with his right calf taped, scored 20 points, andSalmons had 10 for Miami. But Miami’s high scorer, Darius Rice, was heldscoreless for the first time this season. Rice, averaging 15.4 points, missedall five of his shots, including four from 3-point range.
Lett finished with 13 points, and Brown had 10 for Pitt.
