TULSA WORLD HOMEPAGE | WIRELESS

Follow us on Facebook Follow us on Twitter Follow us on RSS
Sports Extra! Sports Extra Tulsa World Follow us on ...


SPORTS EXTRA BLOGS
    Sports Editor
Mike Strain

Sports Columnist
Dave Sittler

The Picker
Entertaining & Infuriating

LOCAL PROS

ALL SPORTS

PHOTOS & VIDEOS

OUTDOORS

FIND A STORY

EMAIL ALERTS

SOCIAL MEDIA

RSS FEEDS

CONTACT US
BUY PHOTOS & PAGES

TULSA WORLD

ADVERTISE ON SPORTS EXTRA

National Basketball Association
BOXSCORE | RECAP
Pittsburgh 69, South Carolina State 55
When: 6:00 PM ET, Saturday, December 17, 2011
Where: Petersen Events Center, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Officials: # Jeff Clark, # Tim Clougherty, # Paul Szelc
Attendance: 9521
Lamar Patterson matched his career high with 16 points, and Talib Zanna had 12 points and 14 rebounds as No. 14 Pittsburgh dumped visiting South Carolina State 69-55 on Saturday.

The pair of sophomores made up for a rare off-shooting night by Ashton Gibbs, who finished with 14 points but went 6-for-18, including 2-for-12 from 3-point range.

The Panthers (10-1) were also without highly touted freshman center Khem Birch, who decided to leave the program, the school announced Friday. Birch, from Montreal, had started the past six games and was contributing 4.4 points and 5.0 rebounds.

Despite his absence, Pitt still dominated the paint and outrebounded the 4-7 Bulldogs by a 38-24 margin. Zanna did his damage off the bench, while Patterson continued his emergence after nearly achieving a triple-double with 12 points, 10 rebounds and seven assists last time out against Oklahoma State.

Brandon Riley had a game-high 21 points and Khalif Toombs chipped in 16 for South Carolina State, which was coming off a 30-point loss to Gardner-Webb.

Pitt hadn't played since the 74-68 triumph over Oklahoma State at Madison Square Garden a week ago and didn't come out sharp. A 3-pointer by Riley gave the Bulldogs a 20-18 edge with 6:07 left in the first half. The Panthers responded with a 9-0 run, and Malcolm Gilbert's buzzer-beating dunk gave Pitt a 31-26 halftime edge.

South Carolina State pulled within 35-34 before Pitt took command with a 15-5 burst. The Panthers held Riley to just four points in the second half after he poured in 17 in the first.
Top Game Performances
 
South Carolina State   Pittsburgh
Brandon Riley 21 Scoring Lamar Patterson 16
Brandon Riley 3 Assists Ashton Gibbs 6
Shaquil Barber 5 Rebounds Talib Zanna 14
Shaquil Barber 3 Free Throws Made Talib Zanna 4
Presano Bell 1 Steals Nasir Robinson 2
Luka Radovic 1 Blocks Lamar Patterson 2
Team Stats Summary
 
Team Points FG% 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA Assists Rebounds Blocks Steals Turnovers
South Carolina State 55 38.9 8-14 5-9 13 24 1 3 9
Pittsburgh 69 49.1 5-23 8-14 17 38 5 4 11