College Basketball

Clemson tops Pitt 67-60 to end 6-game losing streak (Jan 28, 2017)

Updated Mar. 4, 2020 10:41 p.m. ET

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AP

PITTSBURGH (AP) Clemson spent the latter portion of its week off going through two-a-day practices and mentally hitting the reset button following six straight losses in the meat grinder that is the ACC.

''We understand we're a good team still,'' forward Jaron Blossomgame said. ''This conference is crazy. We understand to beat the good teams we just had to sharpen up a little.''

The struggling ones too. Blossomgame scored 25 points on 10-of-14 shooting and Gabe DeVoe hit a pair of late buckets to fend off a late Pittsburgh surge as the Tigers topped the sliding Panthers 67-60 on Saturday.

The Tigers (12-8, 2-6 ACC) won for the first time in 2017 by holding Pitt to just 32 percent (18-of-55) shooting and keeping it together after the Panthers trimmed a 10-point deficit to 60-57 with 4:35 left. DeVoe knocked down a turnaround jumper and then slipped into the lane for a putback. Clemson's defense - yes, it's defense - did the rest. Pitt made just 5 of 28 shots in the second half and missed its final five shots over the final 2:33.

''We were just really locked in defensively,'' Blossomgame said. ''They were shots that we wanted them to take and fortunately they missed them.''

Jamel Artis and Cameron Johnson led Pitt with 16 points each but the Panthers (12-9, 1-7 ACC) lost their sixth straight. Four days after falling to Louisville at home by 55 points, Pitt responded with better effort but not better results while falling into last place by itself in the nation's toughest conference.

''It's amazing that we shot as poorly as we did in the second half and we had a chance to win the game,'' coach Kevin Stallings said. ''We didn't play well enough to win but certainly played a lot harder.''

Then again, there was nowhere to go but up.

The Panthers wore alternate all-black uniforms as part of a promotion set up months ago, with Stallings and the entire student section following suit. The timing could have been better. Stallings' already difficult first year hit rock bottom on Tuesday night when visiting the visiting Cardinals won by the largest margin of victory by a road team in the 64-year history of the league, a setback that left the Panthers shaken.

Pitt brought in reinforcements, with football coach Pat Narduzzi - who orchestrated a 43-42 upset over the Tigers in November that proved to be Clemson's only loss on the way to the national title - trying to whip the Petersen Events Center into a frenzy.

It worked for ''The Oakland Zoo.'' Not so much the Panthers.

Pitt got off to a slow start but rallied to take a 36-31 lead at the break following a deep 3-pointer by Artis. It didn't last. Clemson went on a 12-0 run to start the second half fueled by Blossomgame. The Tigers eventually went up 50-40 after a pretty turnaround jumper by Marcquise Reed.

Clemson, however, has struggled to put teams away this season. Four of the Tigers' previous six losses in conference came by five points or less. This time Clemson found a way behind Blossomgame.

''Jaron made big plays for us in the second half, which you need your best players to do,'' Clemson coach Brad Brownwell said.

BIG PICTURE

Clemson: The Tigers haven't bailed mentally following a difficult stretch and didn't lose their composure even though Pitt crept back in it despite being outplayed. The big shots by DeVoe certainly helped.

''That was definitely a winning play,'' Blossomgame said. ''Everybody expects me to have the ball. For Gabe to produce like that in crunch time is huge.''

Pitt: Stallings lamented his lack of options when asked about taking playing time away from his four seniors but experimented liberally with his bench. Rozelle Nix, Damon Wilson, Justice Kithcart, Corey Manigault and Jonathan Milligan all saw minutes in the first half and came in as a mass substitution in the second half, though that appearance ended after less than two minutes following a pair of empty possessions and two quick Clemson baskets.

''I'm not going to keep guys in anymore that aren't at least attempting to do their very best at what we asked them to do,'' Stallings said.

UP NEXT

Clemson: Hosts surprising Georgia Tech on Wednesday. The Tigers lost two of three games against the Yellow Jackets last season.

Pitt: Begins a three-game road trip with a visit to No. 9 North Carolina on Tuesday followed by a game at Cameron Indoor Stadium on Saturday.

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