Nasir Robinson scored 18 points and Ashton Gibbs had 16 as the fourth-ranked Pittsburgh Panthers shook off a rough first half to ruin Senior Night at the Sun Dome with a 66-50 win over the South Florida Bulls.
For awhile, it looked like the Bulls might be able to claim a win over their highest-ranked opponent ever. USF kept the Panthers off the boards on both ends of the court, took a 15-14 lead on a Ron Anderson, Jr. dunk, and eventually headed to the locker room up 27-24. But in one seven-minute stretch of the second half, the Panthers took care of business like an elite team should against a weak opponent. They made 10 straight shots, all on dunks, layups, or three-pointers, and eliminated the second chances that USF had had earlier in the game. When their outburst ended, Pittsburgh led 49-34 and would not be seriously challenged again.
For USF, senior Jarrid Famous capped his Sun Dome career with 15 points and 12 rebounds. Gus Gilchrist also scored 15. But no other Bull scored more than five, and Pittsburgh's trademark defense held USF to only 37% shooting.
At 8-21, and with a trip to red-hot St. John's on Saturday and the Big East tournament after that, USF is likely to break their single-season record of 22 losses. The season can't end fast enough, and you only have to watch the last Bulls possession of the game to figure out why. Getting rare playing time and heading in for a breakaway dunk, guard Shedrick Haynes rose up for a one-handed jam and... was rejected by the rim.
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