THEY SURVIVED

ROUND ONE:
72
62

The 72-62 final score won't tell the entire story of just how close Pitt's first-round game was against East Tennessee State, but don't be fooled: this contest could've gone either way.

Pitt was extremely sloppy with the ball, committing oodles of turnovers and being consistently outhustled throughout the game by the Bucs, who had 20 offensive rebounds. Basically, two Panthers showed up: Dejuan Blair had 27 points and 16 rebounds, and Sam Young had 14 and 13. The rest of the team? I think they stayed back in Pittsburgh.

Levance Fields struggled mightily on the afternoon. He was just 3-10 (and 0-5 from three-point land) from the floor and did not look himself. Clearly, he is playing at much less than 100%.

Ashton Gibbs did have 10 points off the bench (including two three-pointers), which was a nice little bonus. But all in all, it was as rough of a performance as it sounds for a #1 seed. Let's just say my confidence in this team winning it all just got rocked back and forth, upside-down and inside-out.

You have to take your hat off to ETSU, for it was a Herculean effort even in defeat to hang with a team as accomplished as Pitt. But whether it was the bright lights or some other factor, the Bucs' shooting did themselves in, as they shot 30% from the floor, 18% from three-point land, and 50% at the line. Heck, their two leading scorers (Kevin Tiggs and Courtney Pigram) shot a combined 13-for-46!

You've got to wonder where the Panthers go from here. As the CBS crew mused after the game, is this a wake-up call, or is their confidence shaken? They'd better figure it out quickly, because Oklahoma State is waiting.

Pitt-ETSU [ESPN.com]

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