New York, NY -- Playing characteristic physical basketball, Pittsburgh ended the first half with a 13-4 run and then made it stand up, ending Virginia Tech's four-game winning streak and booting the Hokies from the Big East Tournament, 74-61.

Fighting to shake off the rust from having a first-round bye, the Panthers struggled with the Hokies for most of the first half. Tech's Bryant Matthews registered a steal and a dunk with 5:21 to go in the half that made it 21-20, Pittsburgh, but from there, the Panthers asserted themselves, going on a 13-4 run that put them up by ten at the half, 34-24. The lead could have been more, but a tip-in by Pitt's Chris Taft at the buzzer was ruled no good, after a video review first caused the referees to rule the shot good. They later correctly overruled the call.

Pittsburgh extended the lead to 41-26 early in the second half before the Hokies awoke and made a couple of runs. VT cut the lead to nine points two times, at 41-32 and 45-36. Pittsburgh stretched it back out to fifteen points and led 55-44 when Matthews, who scored 14 points, fouled out with 7:14 to go.

Led by a three-pointer from Bryan Randall and two buckets by Zabian Dowdell, the Hokies made one final charge, cutting the lead to 63-57 with 2:26 to go. But Pitt made their free throws down the stretch and the Hokies struggled to score again, as the Panthers finished out with an 11-4 run for the final margin.

Three things prevented Virginia Tech from pulling off the upset:

1.) Physical play. Pittsburgh grabbed, held, and pushed Matthews, the Big East's leading scorer, making it tough for him to get the ball and work close to the basket. Matthews' 14 points tied for the Tech scoring lead, but he was off his rhythm, hitting 5 of 13 shots.

2.) Inconsistent officiating. Big East officials let Pitt play their typically physical style of basketball but called a lot of touch fouls, particularly in the second half, and particularly on Tech. Matthews fouled out on two very questionable touch fouls, and the Hokies were whistled for 31 fouls, versus just 16 for Pitt. The Panthers outshot Tech 38-12 from the free throw line, holding a 23-7 scoring margin from the charity stripe.

3.) An ankle injury to Jamon Gordon. Led by Gordon, the Big East steals leader, the Hokies created problems for Pitt early on with their perimeter defense. But after Gordon injured his ankle midway through the first half, he was clearly gimpy and wasn't as effective defensively on the perimeter. Gordon did manage to tie Matthews with 14 points, and he added 7 rebounds, 6 assists, and 2 steals, one of which came after the injury.

The Hokies shot 45%, going 26-58 from the field, and outrebounded Pittsburgh 34-32. But ultimately, Pittsburgh's physical style of play and their advantage at the free throw line led to the loss for the Hokies.

Virginia Tech is now 15-14 and is waiting for Sunday night, to see if they'll get an NIT bid. During pre-game comments on the Tech radio network, VT athletic director Jim Weaver said that on Monday (prior to Tech's win over Rutgers in round 1), Tech was working towards an NIT bid. "Yesterday [after the victory over Rutgers]," Weaver said, "we started working towards getting a home [NIT] game."

Weaver indicated that Tech could easily host a Tuesday or Wednesday night NIT game next week, and still easily prepare for the Women's NCAA Tournament games that Tech is hosting on Sunday, March 21st and Tuesday, March 23rd.

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