DENVER, Colo.—Pittsburgh used an 18-0 run mid-way through the
first half to break open a tight game, and the fourth-seeded
Panthers cruised to an 82-63 win over 13th-seeded Oral Roberts in
the NCAA Tournament first round, Thursday at Pepsi Center.
With the win Pittsburgh (27-9) moves on to the second round when it
will face Michigan State on Saturday. The loss ends ORU's (24-9)
season in the NCAA Tournament for the third consecutive season.
The Golden Eagles started strong, taking a 13-10 lead on a Robert
Jarvis (Humble, Texas) 3-pointer with 12:01 remaining in the
first half. But Pittsburgh quickly seized the momentum, scoring the
game's next 18 points to take a 28-13 lead on a layup by DeJuan
Blair with 7:05 to play.
Andre Hardy (San Diego, Calif.) finally stopped
the run with a pair of free throws at 6:34, but Pitt clearly had
control. The Golden Eagles finally converted a field goal when Moses
Ehambe (Arlington, Texas) made his third trey of the game with
4:46 left before halftime, but by then the Panthers held a 34-18
advantage. Pitt led 47-24 at halftime.
ORU tried to make a game of it in the second half. Behind 13
second-half points from Hardy, the Golden Eagles got as close as 16
points when a
Shawn King (Bequia, St. Vincent) layup made it
69-53, but the Eagles would get no closer.
Jarvis led the Golden Eagles with 16 points, but was only 5-of-17
from the field, including 4-of-10 from 3-point range. He added
seven rebounds and three assists.
Hardy tallied 15 points and nine rebounds, going 6-of-11 from the
field and 3-of-6 from the line in 27 minutes. Ehambe chipped in
with 13 points, playing much of the second half with an injured
left shoulder. King added 10 points and three blocks.
Pittsburgh's Levance Fields led all scorers with 23 points, adding
seven assists and four rebounds. Sam Young scored 14 while Gilbert
Brown and Keith Benjamin scored 12 each. Ronald Ramon chipped in
10.
The Golden Eagles shot just 34.9 percent from the field, including
a 9-of-22 effort from three-point range. Pitt shot 46.4 percent
from the field, and made 8-of-22 from deep.
The Panthers owned a huge advantage on the boards, out-rebounding
ORU, 50-33. The Panthers grabbed 16 offensive rebounds.
--ORU—
Notes:
Andre Hardy was named ORU's Chevrolet Most
Valuable Player by CBS for his 15-point, 9-rebound effort ... four
seniors played in their final game on Thursday: Moses
Ehambe,
Shawn King, Adam
Liberty and
Yemi Ogunoye ... the quartet combined for 93
wins, four Summit League regular-season titles, three tournament
titles, one NIT and three NCAA Tournament appearances ... Ogunoye
played in his 128th career game on Thursday, tying former
All-American
Caleb Green's school record ... King finished his
career with 149 blocked shots, good for third in ORU history and
t-4th in Summit League records ... His 68 blocks this season are
10th at ORU and 9th in Summit history ... Ehambe ended his career
with 183 3-pointers, good for 7th in ORU annals ... Ehambe and Robert
Jarvis left their marks on the season record books, ranking
fourth and fifth, respectively, in three-pointers (86, 85) ...
Jarvis grabbed a career-high seven rebounds against the Panthers
...
Marchello Vealy saw his first game action since
suffering a left foot injury against North Dakota State on March
1.
