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3/20/2009 - MEN'S BASKETBALL
ETSU's Game Effort Falls Just Short vs Pitt
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ETSU Press Conference
Courtesy Larry Smith/ETSU Photo
DAYTON, Ohio - Two decades removed from nearly stunning the college basketball world, the ETSU men’s basketball team took another shot at a No. 1 seed and once again the Buccaneers gave the giant a scare.
Having lost to No. 1-seeded Oklahoma 72-71 back in 1989, the Buccaneers have a history of making things interesting in the NCAA Tournament, and Friday afternoon inside the UD Arena, ETSU found itself trailing the No. 1 seed and Big East Conference’s Pittsburgh 59-57 with just over four minutes left in regulation. However, the Bucs were unable to complete the upset bid, ultimately falling to the Panthers 72-62.
With the loss, the Bucs’ season comes to an end while Pittsburgh advances to the second round where the Panthers will meet Oklahoma State on Sunday afternoon.
“I’m very proud of our guys – they fought incredibly hard,” said ETSU head coach Murry Bartow, whose team finishes the season as the Atlantic Sun Conference champions with a 23-11 record. “Coach (Jamie) Dixon does a great job and Pittsburgh is a heck of a team, but we’re disappointed because we thought we were going to win. We came here to win and we believed that we could. We showed that we could.”
The Bucs’ effort was unquestionable on this day, as ETSU forced 18 Pittsburgh turnovers and dominated the offensive glass en route to a 25-7 advantage in second chance points. However, while the competitiveness was there, the Bucs offensive efficiency was not at its best as ETSU shot just 31 percent from the floor (23-of-75) and 50 percent from the foul line (12-of-24) for the game.
Despite the poor shooting effort, the Bucs full court press and man-to-man defense consistently caused Pittsburgh problems and kept ETSU in the game. In fact, the Bucs tied the game five times in the second half and pulled to within two at 59-57 with just over four minutes left.
At that point, ETSU forced yet another turnover and had a shot to tie the game. However, a turnover by senior forward Kevin Tiggs (Flint, Mich.) led to a 3-point play by Pittsburgh’s 6-foot-7, 265-pound center Dejuan Blair to make it 62-57. From there, Tiggs hit a pair of free throws to make it 62-59, but that was as close as the Bucs could get the rest of the way, as they were forced to foul and Pittsburgh pushed the lead out to the final 10-point deficit by hitting its free throws.
