(1) Pittsburgh 84, (8) Oklahoma State 76
After a frenetic first half, No. 1 Pittsburgh clamped down on defense in the second half of an 84-76 win against No. 8 Oklahoma State. Senior swingman Sam Young had a sensational game for the Panthers with 32 points and seven rebounds. He made up for a difficult game for sophomore forward DeJuan Blair, who finished with 10 points and 10 rebounds. However, Blair provided a critical putback layup with 40 seconds remaining that extended Pittsburgh’s lead to five.
Oklahoma State led much of the first half by shooting 62 percent from the field and hitting 10 three-pointers. Senior point guard Byron Eaton orchestrated the Cowboys’ efficient offense with seven assists in the first half. The Cowboys apparently would have preferred to skip halftime and just keep shooting. Pittsburgh’s defense limited Oklahoma State to two three-pointers in the second half and only 27 points. And most of the Cowboys’ missed shots went to Pitt, which out-rebounded Oklahoma State 39-21.
