Pittsburgh 81, Georgia Tech 74

[January 15, 2014]  ATLANTA, Ga. — No. 21 Pittsburgh 81, Georgia Tech 74: Talib Zanna scored 22 points and the visiting Panthers held on after building a 14-point second-half lead to down the Yellow Jackets.

Zanna recorded nine rebounds and James Robinson added 16 points for Pittsburgh (16-1, 4-0 ACC), which won its sixth in a row. The Panthers, in their first ACC season, shot 56.9 percent from the field.

Trae Golden led Georgia Tech (10-7, 1-3) with 22 points, Marcus Georges-Hunt added 13 points and Daniel Miller scored 12 points with five blocked shots. The Yellow Jackets were dominated on the backboards 38-18, just the second time this season Georgia Tech has been outrebounded.

Pittsburgh scored nine consecutive points to turn a 37-32 deficit into a 41-37 advantage four minutes into the second half. Leading 44-42 with 13:28 to play, the Panthers scored 15 of the next 18 points — six coming from Cameron Wright — and Lamar Patterson's three-point play with 7:53 left pushed the Pittsburgh lead to 59-45.

Golden scored 12 consecutive points down the stretch to fuel Georgia Tech's frantic comeback bid and his two free throws with 29 seconds remaining cut the Pittsburgh advantage to 78-74. But Michael Young hit a pair from the line to answer one second later to secure the win for the Panthers as the Yellow Jackets could not counter on their next possession.

GAME NOTEBOOK: Patterson, the ACC player of the week who averaged 22.7 points in first three conference games, scored his first points 45 seconds into the second half and finished with 11. … Georgia Tech had won the previous five matchups with Pittsburgh, the last two coming in 1989. … The Yellow Jackets played without Jason Morris (concussion) and Solomon Poole (migraines).

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