PITTSBURGH (AP) Freshman Justin Champagnie poured in a career-high 30 points and Pittsburgh pulled away from Georgia Tech 73-64 on Saturday.
Champagnie made 12 of 17 shots, including all three of his 3-point attempts as the Panthers (15-9, 6-7 Atlantic Coast Conference) bounced back from a tough road loss at Notre Dame by clamping down on the Yellow Jackets (11-13, 5-8) late.
Trey McGowens added 14 points and nine assists for Pitt. Terrell Brown finished with nine points and six rebounds in his first start since late November and the Panthers used the juice provided by a technical foul on head coach Jeff Capel to stay in the mix in the middle of the muddled ACC.
Michael Devoe led Georgia Tech with 22 points and seven assists while Moses Wright chipped in 12 points. James Banks III added seven points and 11 rebounds but the Yellow Jackets couldn’t keep pace after Capel was hit with a technical foul for throwing a towel in disgust after Brown drew his fifth foul on a late whistle following a shot attempt by Banks.
Alvarado drilled the two technical foul shots to get Georgia Tech within 57-54 with 4:50 to go but Banks missed his two free throws. The Panthers responded with an 11-3 burst capped by a layup and a pair of free throws by Champagnie that put Pitt up 68-57 with 1:39 to play.
The Yellow Jackets never recovered while seeing their modest two-game winning streak snapped. Georgia Tech shot a respectable 48% (24 of 50) from the floor but was undone by 22 turnovers.
Champagnie, the linchpin of Capel’s recruiting class, showcased why Capel pursued him so relentlessly. The 6-foot-6 forward can score in a variety of ways. He’s comfortable behind the 3-point line but is also adept at crashing the boards. And when Pitt went away from him while frittering away a nine-point second-half lead, he came out of a timeout and flashed to the high post repeatedly, eventually finding enough room to knock down a jumper from the left elbow.
BIG PICTURE
Georgia Tech: The Yellow Jackets have an interesting resume that includes a blowout win over Virginia Tech on Tuesday. Yet they need to take better care of the ball if they want to have any shot at elbowing their way into postseason conversation. The schedule is pretty light the rest of the way – they have just one game remaining against a ranked opponent – but their margin for error is almost invisible.
Pitt: Champagnie’s growth gives Pitt a viable third scoring option behind McGowens and point guard Xavier Johnson. Just as importantly, the defense that was shoddy while getting lit up by the Fighting Irish responded by suffocating the occasionally sloppy Yellow Jackets.
UP NEXT
Georgia Tech: Hosts No. 5 Louisville on Wednesday. The Yellow Jackets fell to the Cardinals 68-64 on the road last month.
Pitt: Welcomes Clemson on Wednesday night. The Panthers have lost six straight to the Tigers.
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For more AP college basketball coverage: https://apnews.com/Collegebasketball and http://twitter.com/AP-Top25
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