PITT UPENDS NO. 1 UCONN, AGAIN
By Zach Smart
It was one of those game-changing, defining moments that seem to alter the balance of the contest in one, wowing instant.
That's what it felt like when Sam Young flushed an earth-scorching, resume reel dunk that gave Pittsburgh a 56-50 edge they wouldn't squander.
The Huskies had clawed their way back from a deficit and showed their resolve. Behind the the clutch, high-pressure antics of A.J. Price, UConn busted out a 10-0 surge that brought them to within two points. Doubters morphed into believers, thinking UConn can do the unthinkable and stamp Pitt with it's first upset at home this season.
Not so fast.
Young propelled himself into the air, floating between the Peterson Events Center ceiling and the hardwood, and unleashed an acrobatic, emphatic two-handed dunk with 6:29 remaining.
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The play, which instigated exasperated UConn coach Jim Calhoun to take a 30-second timeout, was a microcosm of Young's afternoon.
Young, whose metamorphosis into one of the nation's elite scorers and all-around players hasn't been blown up, dominated. He tantalized the nets to the tune of 31 points, allowing Pitt to improve to 15-3 in the Big East and likely lock down one of the top seeds in the upcoming NCAA tournament.
With the win, Pitt defeats a No.1 team--TWICE--for the first time in program history. The titanic victory makes it the first time since 1998 a no.1 team twice fell to the same opponent. That was Duke, who surrendered the title of top-ranked team in the country to North Carolina twice. Pitt has now emerged as the seventh team in NCAA history to beat a top-ranked team on two occasions in one season.
Young, who lit the Huskies up for 25 and was virtually un-guardable back on Feb.16, continued his scoring splurge. He caught the Huskies with his trademark shot fake, stuck threes and open jumpers, completed high-flying alley-oop lobs, and knifed through the teeth of the defense.
Calhoun, who's developed a low tolerance for the Panthers' physical, roughhouse brand of basketball and the way the refs allow the black-and-blue, bruising basketball, tried sticking Adrien on Young.
But the muscle-bound 6-foot-7 forward couldn't contain him. Young used his quickness, ability to score in traffic, and stepback jumpers to fend off Adrien.
Much of the pre-game hype surrounded the intriguing subplot of Hasheem Thabeet v.s. DeJuan Blair. In the first game, Blair thoroughly pulverized his 7-foot-3 counterpart. He backed him down to the bucket and scored on the Tanzania native at will, finishing with 22 points and 23 boards.
Coming into this game, Thabeet the Center who's been in the Big East Player of the Year competition, said the game wasn't about him being the center of attention.
"It is not about Hasheem against Pittsburgh," Thabeet told the Hartford Courant Thursday. "It's about UConn basketball."
Calhoun, however, seemed to think that Thabeet would be put to the test in a way that has individual award implications Saturday. He knew his super-sized big would have to fend off the "Blaired Vision" he suffered last game and officially resuscitate himself after the Feb.16 quagmire.
"He now is going to be thrust into a pivotal position as the pivotal guy on our team. And if he were to be deserving of player of the year or All-American, or all those kind of things, well ... "
Well, quite frankly, he needs to show up for two halves of basketball.
Thabeet scored all 14 of his points in the first half, when he looked as if he was going to re-write the script. But the Tanzania native went Houdini in the second. He missed a pair of point-blank range layups on one crucial possession.
On the ensuing possession, Thabeet couldn't handle a risky pass and went sprawling to the floor. The Panthers capitalized on the turnover, with Fields hitting Young in full stride for an emphatic dunk on which he absorbed a foul.
Blair only had eight points and eight boards and suffered a personal 18-minute scoring drought. None of it mattered. Young was too quick, too efficient, and too much of a powerful presence on the glass (he snared 10 boards) and in the key (he sliced through the defense and glided to the basket for easy-layups and bank shots).
When Blair retreated to the bench after getting whistled for his third foul, however, Price essentially hurled the team over his shoulders.
Price would finish with 19 points and four assists in 35 minutes. He hit 4-for-8 from beyond the arc. Aside from Adrien (11 points, 5-for-14) and Kemba Walker, who snaked along the baseline and into the basket for 10 points, he didn't have much help.
Austrie was held scoreless and Stanley "Sticks" Robinson's offensive woes (2-for-6 fg, 2-for-6 FT) persisted.
So, Pitt has had UConn's number this wild, Big East regular season.
One Pitt fan had a creative way of putting the grudge match in perspective. He held out a sign that read, "UCONN'T BEAT US!"
It was one of those game-changing, defining moments that seem to alter the balance of the contest in one, wowing instant.
That's what it felt like when Sam Young flushed an earth-scorching, resume reel dunk that gave Pittsburgh a 56-50 edge they wouldn't squander.
The Huskies had clawed their way back from a deficit and showed their resolve. Behind the the clutch, high-pressure antics of A.J. Price, UConn busted out a 10-0 surge that brought them to within two points. Doubters morphed into believers, thinking UConn can do the unthinkable and stamp Pitt with it's first upset at home this season.
Not so fast.
Young propelled himself into the air, floating between the Peterson Events Center ceiling and the hardwood, and unleashed an acrobatic, emphatic two-handed dunk with 6:29 remaining.
READ REST OF THE STORY...CLICK "Read More" BELOW
The play, which instigated exasperated UConn coach Jim Calhoun to take a 30-second timeout, was a microcosm of Young's afternoon.
Young, whose metamorphosis into one of the nation's elite scorers and all-around players hasn't been blown up, dominated. He tantalized the nets to the tune of 31 points, allowing Pitt to improve to 15-3 in the Big East and likely lock down one of the top seeds in the upcoming NCAA tournament.
With the win, Pitt defeats a No.1 team--TWICE--for the first time in program history. The titanic victory makes it the first time since 1998 a no.1 team twice fell to the same opponent. That was Duke, who surrendered the title of top-ranked team in the country to North Carolina twice. Pitt has now emerged as the seventh team in NCAA history to beat a top-ranked team on two occasions in one season.
Young, who lit the Huskies up for 25 and was virtually un-guardable back on Feb.16, continued his scoring splurge. He caught the Huskies with his trademark shot fake, stuck threes and open jumpers, completed high-flying alley-oop lobs, and knifed through the teeth of the defense.
Calhoun, who's developed a low tolerance for the Panthers' physical, roughhouse brand of basketball and the way the refs allow the black-and-blue, bruising basketball, tried sticking Adrien on Young.
But the muscle-bound 6-foot-7 forward couldn't contain him. Young used his quickness, ability to score in traffic, and stepback jumpers to fend off Adrien.
Much of the pre-game hype surrounded the intriguing subplot of Hasheem Thabeet v.s. DeJuan Blair. In the first game, Blair thoroughly pulverized his 7-foot-3 counterpart. He backed him down to the bucket and scored on the Tanzania native at will, finishing with 22 points and 23 boards.
Coming into this game, Thabeet the Center who's been in the Big East Player of the Year competition, said the game wasn't about him being the center of attention.
"It is not about Hasheem against Pittsburgh," Thabeet told the Hartford Courant Thursday. "It's about UConn basketball."
Calhoun, however, seemed to think that Thabeet would be put to the test in a way that has individual award implications Saturday. He knew his super-sized big would have to fend off the "Blaired Vision" he suffered last game and officially resuscitate himself after the Feb.16 quagmire.
"He now is going to be thrust into a pivotal position as the pivotal guy on our team. And if he were to be deserving of player of the year or All-American, or all those kind of things, well ... "
Well, quite frankly, he needs to show up for two halves of basketball.
Thabeet scored all 14 of his points in the first half, when he looked as if he was going to re-write the script. But the Tanzania native went Houdini in the second. He missed a pair of point-blank range layups on one crucial possession.
On the ensuing possession, Thabeet couldn't handle a risky pass and went sprawling to the floor. The Panthers capitalized on the turnover, with Fields hitting Young in full stride for an emphatic dunk on which he absorbed a foul.
Blair only had eight points and eight boards and suffered a personal 18-minute scoring drought. None of it mattered. Young was too quick, too efficient, and too much of a powerful presence on the glass (he snared 10 boards) and in the key (he sliced through the defense and glided to the basket for easy-layups and bank shots).
When Blair retreated to the bench after getting whistled for his third foul, however, Price essentially hurled the team over his shoulders.
Price would finish with 19 points and four assists in 35 minutes. He hit 4-for-8 from beyond the arc. Aside from Adrien (11 points, 5-for-14) and Kemba Walker, who snaked along the baseline and into the basket for 10 points, he didn't have much help.
Austrie was held scoreless and Stanley "Sticks" Robinson's offensive woes (2-for-6 fg, 2-for-6 FT) persisted.
So, Pitt has had UConn's number this wild, Big East regular season.
One Pitt fan had a creative way of putting the grudge match in perspective. He held out a sign that read, "UCONN'T BEAT US!"
Labels: Connecticut news
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