Young lands Pitt back in Big East final

#7 Pittsburgh 68 - #6 Marquette 61

Pittsburgh , March and Madison Square Garden: it’s becoming the perfect storm for Panthers opponents, especially when it comes to the Big East tournament. On Friday night, Marquette wasn’t the first but they were the most recent team to get caught in the storm.

Sam Young scored 22 points to help Pitt past Marquette in the semifinals, 68-61, landing the Panthers back into the Big East final for the second straight year, and for the seventh time in the last eight years. Both teams were playing in their third games in as many days, but Pitt looked as if they were just getting started, whereas Marquette appeared to be running on empty. The Golden Eagles were held to just 31 percent shooting against Pitt’s defense. Though Jerel McNeal turned in another solid effort with 17 points, his backcourt mates did not. Dominic James had eight points on just 3-of-16 shooting and Wesley Matthews finished with 10. Combined, James and Matthews were just 5-of-23 shooting from the field.

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Ronald Ramon finished with 14 points for Pitt and Levance Fields added 12 for Pitt, who improved to a perfect 5-0 at Madison Square Garden this season. The Panthers will face Georgetown in the Big East final on Saturday night, a rematch from last year’s final game. The Hoyas took the tournament crown last year, beating Pitt 64-52. In the team’s only meeting this season, Pitt bested Georgetown in Pittsburgh, 69-60. The Panthers will aim to give Georgetown their first ever blemish on their record as the No.1 seed in the Big East tournament. Georgetown is 14-0 all time when the Hoyas are the No.1 seed.

by Frank Minniti
BigEast-fans.com Director of Content

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