Pitt avenged its 22-point beatdown at home to Duke from two weeks ago with a stunning upset of the seventh-ranked Blue Devils on Saturday night, downing Duke 80-76 and giving the Panthers their first win inside Cameron Indoor Stadium since 1979.
Senior guard Blake Hinson led the way for Pitt with 24 points and eight rebounds. Hinson finished a perfect 7 of 7 from 3-point range and Pitt as a team shot 10 of 20 from long distance.
Pitt's win inside a hostile Cameron Indoor Stadium registered as surprising outcome after its 75-53 home meltdown to Duke on Jan. 9. The Panthers not only outplayed Duke down the stretch, but was the frontrunner for much of the game. The visiting Panthers were leading or tied for all but two minutes and 19 seconds of game action, and after briefly surrendering the lead midway through the second half, retook it for good with 6:35 remaining to seal the win.
Duke kept punching and pushing and kept things close down to the final buzzer, but Jaland Lowe's 3-pointer with 43 seconds remaining gave Pitt a 75-71 advantage and served as the knockout punch.
JALAND. LOWE. CLUTCH. 🥶
— NCAA March Madness (@MarchMadnessMBB) January 21, 2024
PITT LEADS THE BLUE DEVILS DOWN THE STRETCH 😳
(via @Pitt_MBB)pic.twitter.com/xcNKv7l0AN
Lowe had 17 points to cap his big week that started with a career-high 20 points on Tuesday vs. Syracuse.
Duke also struggled to defend the interior and gave up 32 points in the paint while getting just 18 of its own inside the painted area. As a team, Duke also lost the turnover battle and took 10 fewer shots than did the Panthers while shooting it at a lower percentage both from the field and from the 3-point line.
The win for Pitt snaps a two-game losing skid and gives coach Jeff Capel, a Duke alum who played for the team and later served as an assistant under Coach K, his second win against his alma mater. Since taking over the Pitt program in 2018, he is now 2-6 vs. the Blue Devils, with Saturday's win snapping a four-game losing streak against Duke.
