South Florida 63, Pittsburgh 51

By foxsports
Published

Hugh Robertson had a season-high 18 points and Anthony Collins scored five of his 11 in the final 2:13 to help South Florida rebound from its worst loss since joining the Big East with a 63-51 victory over Pittsburgh on Wednesday night

Augustus Gilchrist added 10 points for USF (14-10, 7-4), which lost by 30 points at Georgetown last Saturday. The Bulls limited Pitt (15-10, 4-8) to 35-percent shooting while holding leading scorer Ashton Gibbs to a season-low four points.

The loss stopped the four-game winning streak Pitt had put together following an 0-7 start in conference play. Tray Woodall led the Panthers with 11 points, but made just 4 of 13 shots.

Robertson didn't miss a shot all night, going 7-for-7 from the field and making all four of his free throws. The 6-foot-6 guard also spearheaded USF's defensive effort on Gibbs, who averaged nearly 19 points during Pitt's winning streak and 16.6 overall this season.

The Pitt star was 0-for-4 in the opening half and remained scoreless until finally making a jumper five minutes into the second half.

Pitt shot less than 35 percent in the first half and turned the ball over nine times, yet only trailed 27-23 at halftime. Unfortunately for the Panthers, it didn't get any better the rest of the way.

Toarlyn Fitzpatrick's 3-pointer put USF up 41-31 with 14 minutes to go. Pitt cut its deficit to eight on two occasions, but each time the Bulls answered with a basket to stay in control. When Robertson, Fitzpatrick and Collins scored during a quick 6-0 burst, the lead grew to 14 with 8 minutes to go.

Pitt kept battling, but never got into a rhythm offensively. Lamar Patterson's 3-pointer trimmed USF's lead to 53-45 with 2:41 remaining, however, the Panthers didn't get closer than eight down the stretch.

USF's 75-45 loss to Georgetown was the Bulls' worst conference loss since entering the Big East in 2005. After shooting a season-low 31 percent in the debacle, USF warmed up to 61 percent against Pitt.

Woodall's return from an abdominal injury ignited Pitt's winning streak. But, against USF, the Panthers point guard was 1-for-6 from 3-point range and finished with just two assists.

J.J. Moore had nine points for Pitt. Nasir Robinson and Talib Zanna added eight apiece.