Box Score Game box (pdf)
PITTSBURGH, Pa. – The season came to an end for the Wofford College men’s basketball team on Wednesday night with an 81-63 loss to Pittsburgh in the first round of the College Basketball Invitational presented by Zebra Pen at the Petersen Events Center. The Panthers had a 19-point lead at the half, but the Terriers cut the lead to six points in the second half before Pitt pulled away.
Wofford is 19-14 overall and Pittsburgh is 18-16 overall. The Terriers were led by Drew Crowell with 16 points. Brad Loesing had 15 points and nine assists, while Lee Skinner had a double-double with 12 rebounds and eleven points. The Panthers had five players score in double figures, led by Tray Woodall and J.J. Moore with sixteen points each.
“Pittsburgh was very sharp tonight and they were clearly the better team,” said head coach Mike Young. “I thought we had a good plan going into the game, but hats off to coach Dixon and his guys because they played very well. We came back in the second half and were able to cut the lead to six. We battled and got a couple of turnovers and a few timely baskets, but they had some guys shoot the ball better tonight than they have shot it of late. We did some nice things but they were clearly better than we were in too many points of the game.”
The Panthers scored the first four points of the contest, but after four minutes of play the game was tied at six. Pittsburgh then used an 8-0 run to take a 14-6 lead with 13:24 on the clock. The run continued and went to 16-0 as the Panthers took a 22-6 lead while the Terriers were cold from the floor. Kevin Giltner ended the run with a three pointer with just over eight minutes to go in the first half.
Back-to-back buckets by Drew Crowell in the lane cut the lead to 29-16 with four minutes remaining in the first half. The Panthers answered with a three for a 32-16 lead at the 3:40 mark. In the final minute of the half, J.J. Moore hit two three pointers for the Panthers, including one at the buzzer, to take a 42-23 lead at the break. Wofford was 9-of-31 from the floor (29%) in the first half, while Pitt was 56.7% with seven made three pointers.
Pittsburgh opened the second half with a three pointer. Brad Loesing answered with six straight points for the Terriers, which cut the lead to 45-29 with 17:46 on the clock. The Terriers chipped away at the advantage and made it a 47-40 game after a three by Lee Skinner and a lay-up by Brad Loesing at the 14:20 mark.
A lay-up and three by Drew Crowell made it a 51-45 game eight minutes into the second half. The Panthers answered with back-to-back threes to make it a 57-45 score with eleven minutes remaining in the half. Pittsburgh’s Talib Zatta scored six straight points in the paint as Pitt took a 63-47 lead at the 7:51 mark. Karl Cochran scored four straight for Wofford to make it a 65-51 game, but back-to-back threes by Pitt pushed the lead to 71-51 with 4:56 remaining in the half.
The Terriers answered with a quick 8-0 run to cut the score to 71-58 with 2:55 left in the game. Pitt responded and scored ten of the next twelve points for an 81-60 score. Kevin Giltner hit a three for the Terriers in the last two seconds for the 81-63 final margin.
Wofford shot 37.3% from the floor while Pittsburgh shot 55.0% overall. The Terriers were 7-of-25 from three, while the Panthers were 14-of-25 from behind the arc. Wofford was 12-of-14 from the free throw line, while Pittsburgh was 1-of-3 from the line. The Terriers had a 35 to 32 lead on the glass.
The Panthers will face Princeton on Monday night in the next round of the CBI. The game marked the final contest for the Wofford senior class, which has won a total of 82 games over the past four years. They have participated in the postseason three straight seasons and won two SoCon Championships.
