Pitt holds off Georgia Tech in ACC Tournament, makes strong case for NCAA bid

For the first time in three seasons, Pitt advanced in the ACC Tournament, adding a 22nd victory to its NCAA Tournament resume and earning a berth in a quarterfinal game Thursday against Duke.

The root of Pitt’s 89-81 victory Wednesday against Georgia Tech at Greensboro (N.C.) Coliseum was clear: Pitt’s players seized control of the crucial moments when Georgia Tech (15-18) erased all of the Panthers’ 13-point halftime lead and looked like it was preparing to take command.

Some of those moments were:

• Greg Elliott’s two 3-pointers after Georgia Tech had moved to within one and two points of the Pitt lead in the second half. Elliott was 4 for 4 from beyond the arc, snapping out of a two-game shooting slump.

• Guillermo Diaz Graham’s dunk and Blake Hinson’s three-point play to build an even bigger cushion.

• Finally, Elliott hit four straight foul shots in the final seconds to nail down the victory.

Overall, the 89-point total was Pitt’s fourth-highest of the season, the product of 56.4% shooting from the field (31 of 55 on 18 assists), 43.8% from beyond the 3-point arc (7 of 16) and 80% (20 of 25) from the foul line.

Assistant coach Tim O’Toole said on the 93.7 FM postgame show that those plays would not have been possible without an element just as vital as the ability to make shots: Trust in each other.

O’Toole said he was watching a program Tuesday night about the United States Navy Seals and how their members are chosen, and he mentioned it to the players before the game.

“What they look for in their Seals is not only performance, but trust,” O’Toole said during the interview. “They would rather have a low-performance, high-trust guy than a high-performance, low-trust guy at any point in time.

“What we have throughout our ranks are all guys high performance and maybe some low, but — you know what? — we trust each other. So when you get punched like we did at the start of that second half, we have to rally back together, reassemble and kind of start swinging and fighting back.

“We expect all our guys to be able to give us a positive punch, and they do. But they’ve been doing it all year. And it’s so neat because they have this chemistry, and when you’re trying to be elite, which is what we’re trying to be, trust is everything. And they have that for each other, and it’s a beautiful thing.”

The situation looked dire for Pitt when Federiko Federiko went to the bench with his fourth foul with 9 minutes, 45 seconds left in the game. Pitt’s gameplan had been to feed Federiko (6-foot-11) to take advantage of a height advantage. He responded with 19 points, a season high against an ACC opponent, and eight rebounds.

“The team executed, really used everything that’s good about Federiko Federiko,” said Blake Hinson, who added 12 points and nine rebounds.

The loss of Federiko hurt.

“We had a difficult time when Federiko went out with our ball-screen coverage,” coach Jeff Capel said. “We made one adjustment late, and Guillermo did a heckuva job.”

Georgia Tech, which had won four games in a row, rallied by forcing four Pitt turnovers in the first five minutes of the second half and outscoring the Panthers, 21-8, to take a 52-50 lead at 12:55.

“They were a little bit more aggressive in their ball-screen coverages,” Capel said of Georgia Tech. “They were more aggressive in their contests, and we didn’t adjust to it right away, which led to some live-ball turnovers, which led to layups and easy baskets for them.”

Pitt responded by scoring 39 points in the last 12 minutes of the game.

Jamarius Burton led the way with 21 points and eight assists, 11 and six of those in the second half.

“They grabbed some momentum,” Capel said. “But I’m really proud, man, because we fought. We could have easily given in and put our heads down.

“But these guys showed who they have been all year, which is resilient, tough and together, and we were able to make some huge plays down the stretch.”

O’Toole described the team as “humble and hungry.”

“We went to Notre Dame and got beat up. We went to Miami and lost,” he said. “You have to say (the heck with) that. That’s behind us.

“What we’ve done all year, we’ve been able to focus together. We’ve been disciplined and, more importantly, we’ve been connected.”

Hinson said Georgia Tech’s comeback was no surprise.

“That’s also March,” he said. “You see it every single year. You can’t be shocked. They came back, and you have to be able to battle and win the game.”

Concluded O’Toole: “You know it’s going to be a bloodbath out there. This one was, and we’re fortunate enough to get ready to play (another game).”