TBO.com - TBO is Tampa Bay Online

Young, Blair Pace Panthers

ADVERTISEMENT

The Associated Press

The Tampa Tribune

Published: March 23, 2009

DAYTON, Ohio - As his teammates buzzed around him during warm-ups, Sam Young lost himself in the funky sounds pumping through his headphones.

Young, Pittsburgh's poet in motion whose words are his second love after basketball, let the sweet, sweet music carry him far away.

And deeper into the NCAA Tournament.

Young scored 32 points - one shy of his career high - and colossal center DeJuan Blair added another double-double as top-seeded Pittsburgh advanced to the round of 16 for the fifth time in eight years with an 84-76 win over Oklahoma State on Sunday in the East Region.

Pitt (30-4) will play Xavier in the semifinals in Boston on Thursday.

"It's a tough bracket we're in," said Blair, who finished with 10 points and 12 rebounds, some of them with three defenders hanging on him. "We're just fighting through it."
Oklahoma State threw every punch it had.

Obi Muonelo scored 19 points for the eighth-seeded Cowboys (23-12), a scrappy bunch who gave the Panthers all they could handle before losing their touch in the final minutes. Oklahoma State made 10 3-pointers in a frenetic first half but dropped just two of 12 from long range after halftime as Pitt's defense tightened and took away the open looks that were so available earlier.

"We were right there," said OSU guard Byron Eaton, who scored 15 and survived a collision with Blair. "We were never out of it. Pittsburgh's a good team. You can't take nothing from them guys. We had a great game plan, but we just couldn't accomplish what we wanted to do."
Terrel Harris scored 17 for Oklahoma State, which shot 63 percent before halftime - 33 after the break.

The Associated Press

Share this:

Loading Comments...

Email Print

ADVERTISEMENT