Ashton Gibbs saves the day: With Pitt trailing by one and 3.5 seconds left in the game, Gibbs hit a three-pointer at the buzzer, giving the Panthers the 73-71 win and locking up a double-bye in the Big East tournament to boot.Pitt basically had a three-man team; outside of Gibbs, Brad Wanamaker, and Jermaine Dixon, the rest of the Panthers had 14 points and 11 rebounds combined. Despite 53% shooting, the team's offensive output was disappointing, considering the Friars give up an average of 85.7 PPG against Big East teams and rank 332nd in the country in scoring defense.
Gilbert Brown had his predictable "every-other-game" disappearing act, with 0 points on 0-for-5 shooting. Since the South Florida game, here are Brown's point totals: 25, 0, 23, 6, 16, 5, 16, 3, 13, 0. So that means he'll probably have about 17 against Rutgers on Saturday.
Jamine Peterson ran wild for the Friars, with 24 points and 18 rebounds. If this team could ever figure out how to play defense, they might be dangerous. But in the meantime, they'll have to deal with an ongoing nine-game losing skid. [ESPN]
Drama in New York, too: The Pens overcame a forgettable effort from Marc-Andre Fleury in goal to pull out a 5-4 overtime win against the Rangers last night at MSG. Jordan Staal scored on a power play at 3:42 of overtime, his second goal of the night, to end it for Pittsburgh.[UPDATE: Geno Malkin is now being credited with the OT goal, but Staal gets extra credit for telling officials after the game that he did not touch the puck.]
The Penguins peppered Rangers goalie Henrik Lunqvist to the tune of 55 shots in the game, and outshot New York 23-1 over the third period and OT. Fleury was pulled after allowing four goals on just 12 shots, and Brent Johnson stopped the four shots he saw in more than 30 minutes of work for the win.
The Pens also got goals from Chris Kunitz and Alex Goligoski, and the team's 55-shot performance was pretty awesome considering they were playing without Bill Guerin and Alexei Ponikarovsky.
The guys are back at it on Saturday against Dallas, with a 1 PM start. I'd expect Fleury to start and bounce back with a much better effort. [ESPN]
Willie Parker, Tampa Bay Buccaneer? Consider this the first official rumor about a Steeler free agent, as Tampa tries to breathe some life into a rushing attack that finished 23rd in the NFL last season. He would join a mediocre backfield that already houses Cadillac Williams, Derrick Ward, Earnest Graham, and Kareem Huggins. [Pewter Report]
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