GREENSBORO, N.C. —  On Wednesday afternoon, Pitt prevailed in its opening matchup of the ACC Match, preventing off a ferocious comeback effort from 13-seed Georgia Tech and ending on high by a rating of 89-81.

The Panthers cruised by the primary half behind robust begins from Federiko Federiko and Jamarius Burton, the lone Panthers to attain in double digits within the body.

To open the competition, Burton walked his method into a simple mid-range jumper, foreshadowing the environment friendly inside seems that Pitt would have all through the primary half. Burton continued to shoot confidently contained in the arch, hitting 5 of his eight first-half makes an attempt for 10 factors within the body. As well as, Federiko performed the half of his life, hitting all 5 of his field-goal tries for a team-best 13 factors within the body. The Finnish sophomore additionally grabbed 5 rebounds within the body, main Pitt to an 18-16 rebounding margin within the first.

Whereas Federiko and Burton stayed constant inside, Pitt pulled away with well timed three pointers from Nelly Cummings, Greg Elliott, and Blake Hinson. Down the stretch of the half, the Panthers hit seven pictures in a row to take a 13-point lead into the break.

Nevertheless, the Yellow Jackets wouldn’t let the primary half deficit maintain them down for lengthy. To start out the second, Josh Pastner’s squad swarmed the Panthers with a 10-2, forcing three Pitt turnovers in a row and turning these into buckets on the opposite finish. Rapidly, the Panthers’ lead had dwindled down to only 5.

The Jackets continued to buzz, placing a harm on Pitt early within the half with three dunks, two layups, and two three pointers within the first 5 minutes to chop the result in only one. Georgia Tech then took its first lead of the sport on an emphatic and-one end from Miles Kelly, drawing Federiko’s third foul of the sport.

Down the stretch, Burton continued to assault and Greg Elliott got here up large with a number of extra threes for the Panthers. His fourth three of the evening prolonged Pitt’s lead again as much as seven, giving the Panthers the momentum with over six minutes remaining. The Marquette switch completed the sport with a 4-for-4 capturing evening from three-point vary, including 16 factors.

All 5 of Pitt’s starters scored within the second half, as did Guillermo Diaz-Graham and Nike Sibande off the bench. To shut out the victory, the Panthers earned an enormous and-one floater from Burton, in addition to a key three pointer from Hinson to cap off the win. After Georgia Tech trimmed the lead right down to 4 within the last 22 seconds, Pitt put a stamp on the win with good free throws from Elliott.

Burton completed as Pitt’s main scorer, dropping 21 factors within the win alongside a team-high eight assists. Federiko adopted with 19 factors, additionally including eight rebounds within the effort.

As a group, the Panthers shot 56% from the sphere and 44% from three-point vary (7 for 16).

For Georgia Tech, Ja’Von Franklin dominated Pitt’s skinny entrance courtroom inside, scoring 19 factors and grabbing 15 boards. Deebo Coleman added 17 factors, and Kyle Sturdivant contributed 16. Kelly additionally added 16, going 5 for 12 from the ground.

With the win, Pitt improves to 22-10 on the season. For the primary time since 2015-16, Pitt has defeated a group 3 times in a single season.

The Panthers transfer on to the quarterfinals to face fourth-seed Duke. That sport will tip off at 2:30 p.m. on Thursday afternoon on ESPN2.

PITTSBURGH — Forward of this week’s Atlantic 10 event motion, Duquesne’s Keith Dambrot, Joe Reece, and Austin Rotroff spoke with the media after apply.

Hear from the three Dukes earlier than they took off for Brooklyn for the motion.