Upcoming Event: Men's Basketball at Pitt (Exhibition) on October 19, 2025 at 2:00 p.m.
Men's Basketball
at Pitt (Exhibition)
2:00 p.m.
Providence College Athletics
Tuesday, February 4
Pittsburgh, Pa.
7:00 p.m.
Providence College
61
at
68
Pittsburgh
Friars Fall Short In Upset Bid
2/4/2003 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Feb 4, 2003
By ALAN ROBINSON
AP Sports Writer
PITTSBURGH - This looked familiar to No. 4 Pittsburgh - a dwindling lead late in the second half and plenty of opportunities at the foul line.
Only this time, for the most part, the Panthers made the free throws.
Pittsburgh, making the foul shots it couldn't in losing its previous game, overcame Ryan Gomes' 26 points and Providence's upset bid for a 68-61 victory Tuesday night.
Ontario Lett scored 15 of his 18 points in the first half as Pitt opened a 13-point lead, then withstood a determined Providence comeback to stay unbeaten at home this season.
Jaron Brown added 15 points, including going 6-of-7 from the free throw line in the second half, and Brandin Knight had 11 points and nine rebounds as Pitt (16-2, 6-1 Big East) won for the seventh time in eight games.
The Panthers rebounded from a 67-65 loss Saturday at No. 19 Syracuse in which they went 14-of-29 at the line while squandering a double-digit lead.
Partly because of that effort, Pitt came into the game shooting only 60.2 percent from the line. But the Panthers were 8-of-9 in the first half and 15-of-23 in the second.
"I'm disappointed we gave up the lead again, but making our free throws was huge," Pitt coach Ben Howland said.
Lett wonders why Pitt, which missed a chance to go to No. 1 by losing at Syracuse, can't seem to put away teams.
"Our killer instinct isn't on a championship level," Lett said. "We've got to get a better killer instinct and kick people while they're down. We've got to be able to destroy teams."
Providence (10-9, 3-5) had lost three of four and four of six but, with Gomes and Sheiku Kabba repeatedly hitting big baskets from the outside, rallied from 14 points down to tie it at 54-all with 4? minutes left. Kabba hit three 3-pointers and finished with 15 points.
The Panthers, 11-0 in the new Petersen Events Center, seemed to be well in control with a 45-31 lead on Chevy Troutman's fast-break basket off two quick passes by Knight and Carl Krauser and an ensuing free throw.
But Providence responded by scoring 17 of the next 22 points to get within 50-48, then gained its first tie since the opening minutes as Gomes and Kabba each made two free throws.
Lett, held without a field goal since scoring 15 points in the first half, gave Pitt the lead for good at 56-54 with 4:10 remaining. The Panthers then outscored Providence 11-4 over the next 3? minutes as Brown scored four points and Knight - a 41.5 percent foul shooter - went 4-of-6 from the line.
Providence coach Tim Welsh was disappointed with the huge disparity in free throws.
"They shot 32, we shot 11," he said. "Obviously, I was watching a different game (than the officials)."
Welsh also wondered why a team can be as physical as Pitt, yet get called for only 15 fouls - only about half as many as Providence's 27.
"It's a good way of playing defense, if you can get away with it," he said.
Pittsburgh, playing without leading scorer Julius Page (ankle), fell behind 13-8 but later went on a 15-2 run keyed by Donatas Zavackas' eight straight points to grab a 12-point lead.
Lett started the run with a three-point play off Krauser's no-look, over-the-head pass and a short-range basket. Zavackas then hit a jumper, a 3-pointer and three free throws to make it 31-19.
Krauser, a redshirt freshman, started for Page and had four points, four assists and eight rebounds. Knight played all but one minute although he hasn't practiced for a week because of a sprained ankle.
"Right now, it's killing me," Knight said. "I need to get back out there (in practice) and start running around."
Page has improved significantly since Saturday, Howland said, and should be ready to play Sunday at No. 10 Notre Dame.
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