2/19/2003

The snowstorm of ’03 delayed this “ESPN Big Monday” matchup until Tuesday and kept all but 7,247 fans from seeing the game in person. Pittsburgh (18-4, 8-3) won the 67-82 contest, completing a sweep of the Hoyas this season. Mike Sweetney paced all scorers with 28 points. He also led the Hoyas in rebounding with 8 boards.  Tony Bethel added 12 points before fouling out and Drew Hall garnered a team high 8 assists.

In the opening stanza there were 5 ties and no lead was greater than 7 points. Both squads shot 48% and the Hoyas commanded a 17-13 rebounding edge. The Panthers were 3 of 6 from the charity stripe.

The second frame was radically different from the first. Where the Hoyas’ shooting percentage declined from 48% to 35.5%, Pittsburgh hit 75% of their shots. The Panthers, currently 14^th in the BIG EAST in free throw percentage averaging 62.6%, made 21 of 23 from the stripe (91.3%)