Pitt avoided disaster in the first round of the ACC Tournament on Wednesday, surviving a Georgia Tech second-half rally in an 89-81 victory at the Greensboro Coliseum.
It was the Panthers’ first victory in the conference tournament since 2020. More important, No. 5-seeded Pitt (22-10) padded its resume to show to the NCAA Tournament committee when bids are delivered Sunday. No. 13-seeded Georgia Tech, which had won four in a row, finished its season at 15-18.
Jamarius Burton, who led Pitt with 21 points, said Pitt has earned an NCAA berth.
“This is a tournament team because we competed all year,” he said on ESPN. “If you look at our resume, we’ve competed against the top teams in the country, and we just want to be there and show what we can do.”
For the moment, though, Pitt’s trip through the ACC Tournament will continue at 2:30 p.m. Thursday when the Panthers meet Duke in the quarterfinals. The Blue Devils (23-8) are ranked 21st in the Associated Press Top 25 and seeded fourth in the tournament.
Burton hit 10 of 15 shots and contributed eight assists. Federiko Federiko added 19 points, Greg Elliott 16, Blake Hinson 12 and Nelly Cummings 11.
“I just wanted to be aggressive. My teammates believe in me, and I just wanted to pick my spots,” Burton said.
Instead of pulling away early in the second half, Pitt allowed Georgia Tech to begin cutting into its 13-point halftime deficit. The Panthers turned the ball over four times in the first five minutes of the half and allowed two 3-pointers. All of sudden, Georgia Tech trailed only by 50-49 at the 14:41 mark.
The Yellow Jackets seized their first lead since early in the game at 12:55. Pitt quickly jumped back ahead, but its lead never looked secure until the final seconds. Also, Pitt lost its height advantage under the basket when Federiko committed his fourth foul and went to the bench at 9:45.
Finally, Pitt built some separation when Elliott hit a 3 and Guillermo Diaz Graham, who replaced Federiko, scored on a dunk to give the Panthers a 70-63 lead at 6:14.
Georgia Tech kept punching back and trailed only 85-81 with 22.2 seconds to play. Elliott hit four free throws to set the final score. Overall, Pitt was 20 for 25 from the foul line, including 12 of 13 in the second half.
Pitt led through most of the first half but didn’t expand it beyond five points until the final minutes.
Eventually, the Panthers went on a 10-4 run, punctuated by Federiko’s dunk that gave Pitt a 37-24 lead 3:16 before intermission. At the break, the Panthers were ahead 44-31 thanks to hitting nine of their last 12 field-goal attempts.
With a decided height advantage, Federiko (6-foot-11) was 5 for 5 from the field and ended up with 13 points in the first 20 minutes. Burton added 10 points and two steals.
Hinson and Elliott recorded six points each, with Elliott hitting two 3-pointers — his first in three games. Ball movement was the key, with Pitt getting 10 assists on 16 baskets, a ratio that always pleases coach Jeff Capel. Hinson and Cummings recorded three assists each.
Georgia Tech ended the half with seven offensive rebounds but only five second-chance points.
Jerry DiPaola is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Jerry by email at jdipaola@triblive.com or via Twitter .
