Pittsburgh holds off NC State 81-73 to claim double-bye in ACC Tournament

PITTSBURGH — Carlton Carrington scored 23 points, Blake Hinson added 21 and Pittsburgh defeated NC State 81-73 on Saturday night to claim fourth-place and a double-bye in the upcoming ACC Tournament.

The Panthers (21-10, 12-8), who led by 10 points at halftime, went ahead 52-35 early in the second half and their lead was still 14 after Hinson hit a jumper near the six-minute mark.

But NC State, which hadn’t led since about 8 minutes left in the first half, rallied with an 11-0 run sparked by nine points from Jayden Taylor. The Panthers pushed their lead back to eight points, then Taylor got the Wolfpack within 75-70 when he hit a 3-pointer with 59 seconds remaining.

Guillermo Diaz Graham was fouled on an alley-oop dunk and finished the and-1 for an eight-point lead at 51 seconds. Mohamed Diarra hit a 3-pointer for the Wolfpack but Pitt finished things off at the free-throw line.

Taylor had 28 points for the Wolfpack (17-14, 9-11), who finished in 10th place.

The score was tied five times in the first 12 minutes. NC State did not trail and had a largest lead of five points. A 3-pointer by Jaland Lowe gave the Panthers the lead for the first time, 26-23 with about 7 1/2 minutes left in the half. Lowe’s 3 came early in an 18-6 run that helped the Panthers close the half with a 39-29 lead.

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