Friars get signature win, upset #1 Pitt

Lasting a mere 12 days, the Pittsburgh Panthers accomplished their school’s first ever No.1 national ranking in more than 120 years on January 5 th. Less than three weeks later they would regain the top spot and figured that this time around it would last a bit longer.

They were wrong.

Desperately playing for a signature win in the brutal Big East, the Providence Friars found the spark that may have ignited them into this year’s NCAA Tournament when they knocked off the Panthers 81-73 on Monday night.

The Friars (17-11, 9-7 Big East) came into their last regular season home game without a win versus the Panthers (25-3, 12-3) since 2001when they won 77-61.

Four Friar starters reached double digits in scoring with Weyinmi Efejuku leading the way with 16 points. Sharaud Curry put in 15, Johnathan Kale scored 13 and Jeff Xavier chipped in 11 helping their team shoot just under 50 percent from the field.

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Off the bench Randle Hanke scored 10 points and grabbed four rebounds.

Providence got to the line 29 times, converting on 22.

Unlucky number one it was again for the Panthers as they drop just their second game out of three when ranked as No. 1

Despite fouling out during the stretch run, DeJuan Blair scored a game-high 17 points and grabbed eight rebounds. Sam Young was right behind the Big East Player of the Candidate with 16 points and eight rebounds as well.

Ashton Gibbs came off the bench to score 15 points, including 4-6 from 3-point range.

In Pitt’s three losses this year, DeJuan Blair has fouled out.

By Al Buzzelli
BigEast-fans.com Staff Writer

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