For most of its game against Pittsburgh last Wednesday, the Rutgers University men’s basketball team stayed with the nation’s top-ranked team. At one point early in the second half, the Scarlet Knights even held a seven-point lead.
Many observers thought it was only a matter of time until one of Pitt’s senior leaders, Levance Fields, Sam Young or Tyrell Biggs, would step up and put the game away for good. And while the Panthers did recover for a 78-72 victory, it was seldom-used sophomore Brad Wanamaker who made the difference, scoring 13 points over the final 10 minutes of the game, sending the Scarlet Knights to their fifth loss of the season. Overall, Pitt’s bench outscored Rutgers 31-9.
“I think, overall, our guys did a very good job with the game,” Hill said. “Our goal is to always get better, and I think we have done that during these last few games. Unfortunately, we had a few empty possessions down the stretch, and that really hurt us.”
Hill’s team held a 43-39 halftime advantage thanks to the play of Mike Rosario and Anthony Farmer, who combined for 27 points. The team then opened its lead to seven points on a Corey Chandler three-pointer. The teams went back and forth for a while, and with Pitt holding a 62-59 lead with under six minutes remaining, Wanamaker came up big, hitting two consecutive three-pointers to all but clinch the game for the Panthers.
“Brad [Wanamaker] was very good for us today,” Pittsburgh head coach Jamie Dixon said. “I have plenty of confidence in him, and now I think people are starting to see why that’s the case. You can go right down our roster and see that everybody really did contribute.”
Fields, Young and Biggs accounted for 35 of Pitt’s points. Rosario and Farmer finished with 22 and 20 points, respectively.
“Our points today really came from us just getting up and down the court and running,” Rosario said. “I felt like for most of the game, we were active and really hustled.”
The Scarlet Knights dropped their third straight game to the University of Connecticut on Saturday night by a score of 80-49. Freshman Gregory Echenique led the team with 17 points and three blocked shots.