Pitt loses to N.C. State in 2nd round of ACC Tournament

GREENSBORO, N.C. — Devon Daniels and his N.C. State teammates know their chances of securing an NCAA Tournament bid could come down to how they play in this week’s ACC Tournament.

“We know we can’t go where we want to go, like unless we take care of the game at hand,” Daniels said.

The Wolfpack did that Wednesday, with Daniels scoring 23 points to help N.C. State beat Pitt, 73-58, in Wednesday’s second round of the tournament.

C.J. Bryce added 13 points and 10 rebounds for the fifth-seeded Wolfpack (20-12), who finally broke free of the Panthers with a run of five straight scoring possessions starting near the 9-minute mark. N.C. State went on to lead by 20 late in a game that, if it ended in a loss, could have damaged its NCAA resume.

Xavier Johnson scored 15 points to lead Pitt, though he was whistled for a flagrant foul early in the second half — his fourth foul of the game — for hitting Daniels in the face with a forearm on a drive to the basket. Johnson, who also had eight rebounds at that point, headed to the bench at the 15-minute, 24-second mark with Pitt down 44-40 at the time.

By the time he returned at the 7:52 mark, Pitt was down 12.

Pitt coach Jeff Capel said Johnson’s departure “threw off the rhythm of what we were doing offensively and defensively.”

“I think if you take anyone’s starting point guard off their team, there’s going to be a drop,” Capel said. “I thought Xavier was doing some good stuff for us. He was getting in the paint. He was creating offense for us. And when he goes out, our offense changes.”

N.C. State won a game in last year’s ACC Tournament only to fall on the wrong side of the bubble by Selection Sunday with a resume lacking a marquee win along with the country’s worst nonconference strength of schedule. That disappointment explains why Bryce and Braxton Beverly said the NCAA talk is in the back of the players’ minds in Greensboro.

“It’s kind of impossible not to see and maybe not mention,” Beverly said. “But our main goal right now is the ACC Tournament. We’ll let that take care of itself as long as we take care of business here.”

N.C. State shot 48% to earn its 10th straight win in the series against Pitt (16-17).

The 13th-seeded Panthers advanced by beating No. 12 seed Wake Forest on Tuesday, ending a seven-game losing streak. One of those came Feb. 29 in Raleigh, where Pitt led for more than 30 minutes. This time, Pitt never led to end its season.

“I’m proud how we came here and fought,” Capel said. “It could have been easy for us just to maybe want to get the season over with, with losing seven games in a row. … I thought we took a step forward as a program. You know, it stinks that it’s over. It hurts.”

Freshman Justin Champagnie had nine points on 4-for-13 shooting after going for a season-high 31 points against the Demon Deacons a day earlier.