ETSU vs. Pittsburgh

Sorry to join midstream, but day jobs, real life, yadda yadda yadda.

Mike Smith is a beast. Kevin Tiggs had a nice alley-oop. Isaiah Brown has two fouls early. But the Bucs are hanging in there, mostly with drives to the hoop.

7 to go, first half -- ETSU just had a 4-on-1 breakaway denied by a shot clock violation. They didn't pick up the loose ball before the buzzer. Pitt by 1.

Kevin Tiggs is loving life right now. It's all Tiggs all the time offensively. Pigram is having a solid day defensively. Pitt is having their way on the glass, when they want to. Fortunately for ETSU, there are times when the Bucs want it more.

This is what ETSU needs to do -- Support Tiggs on offense. Rally around Pigram on the defensive end. Want the ball when the shot goes up. Keep Mike Smith on the floor as long as you can.

Final TV timeout of the half. Pitt by 2.

Eleven Pitt turnovers, plus a technical for hanging on the rim. Pitt still by 2, even though ETSU is not shooting well.

Weird play just now -- Pitt player bumps Hubbard into Smith, who was trying to shoot. Smith misses, and goes to the foul line. Not sure who the "victim" of the foul is in that spot. Checking with the officiating.com forum.

Halftime. Pitt 26, ETSU 23. Mike Smith was a fraction of a hair late on a shot at the buzzer that would have cut it to one. Great play, well executed.

ETSU is ready. Pitt is sluggish and sloppy. Look out.

Straight out of halftime Mike Smith for 3. Bottom.

Pigram is 2-for-11 now. Stay confident, kid. It'll happen. Just keep playing defense and let the offense come to you.

This is why ETSU is still in this game. Courtney Pigram with brilliant defense on a breakaway. Pitt misses twice, then Mike Smith gets back to tip the rebound clear.

Are you kidding me? Mike Smith making trouble in the low block. Mike Hamlin with the block. Courtney Pigram with the second-chance basket. Pitt sloppy against the ETSU press. ETSU ball, down 2 at the TV timeout. The crowd begins to believe.

You have to make the free throws. ETSU is 6-14 at the line. But they're only down 1, and their biggest deficit all night has been 6.

8:03 to go, Pitt by 5, ETSU ball. Mike Smith misses, then the teams trade 3's. Kevin Tiggs just kept the Bucs alive. Timeout.

Tommy Hubbard just fouled out. Both teams are absolutely exhausted. In most games of this type, this is the point where the 1-seed's depth becomes the deciding factor. When the shoes stop squeaking, things revert to seed form. But ETSU is only down 6. Under 5 to go.

Here we go. Brown scores, misses the FT. Pigram for 3 off the offensive rebound. Turnover. 59-57.

69-61, under a minute to go. DeJuan Blair has owned the last 3 minutes.

Ball game. Pitt 72, ETSU 62. Solid effort by the Bucs, but not quite enough. Tiggs had 21, Pigram had 17. Offensive rebounding was superb, but FT shooting was abysmal. The Bucs left 7 points on the floor with their misses at the line. All in all, a good effort. Not quite the scare Belmont gave Duke, but a solid performance.