PITTSBURGH (AP) — Blake Hinson scored 24 points on a program-record tying eight 3-pointers and Pittsburgh held on to defeat Wake Forest 81-79 on Wednesday night after blowing a 13-point second-half lead.
After Wake Forest took its only lead of the second half at 74-73 with 4:34 remaining, Pitt got consecutive 3-pointers from Greg Elliott and Hinson to go back up by five.
Tyree Appleby hit a 3-pointer and later added two free throws to get Wake Forest within 81-79 with 1:05 to go. Wake’s Cameron Hildreth grabbed a rebound at the other end, was fouled, and missed both free throws. Pitt rebounded with 37 seconds left and ended up with a shot-clock violation with five seconds remaining. After both teams used a timeout, Appleby missed a 3-pointer as time expired.
Hinson made 8 of 14 from 3-point range and Elliott made 6 of 9 for 18 points. The Panthers buried a program-record 18 3-pointers in 37 attempts (48.6%). Wake Forest made 10 3-pointers in 27 tries (37%).
After Elliott opened the second half with a 3-pointer, the Panthers led 52-39.
Nelly Cummings had 11 points and six assists for the Panthers (14-3, 7-3 ACC), Nike Sibande added 11 points off the bench and Federiko Federiko grabbed nine rebounds. Jamarius Burton had nine assists and Pittsburgh had 22 assists on 28 made baskets.
Appleby had 15 points and seven assists, and Hildreth had 15 points and seven rebounds for Wake Forest (14-7, 6-4). Andrew Carr and Daivien Williamson scored 14 points each.
The Panthers have surpassed their conference victory total from each of the past three seasons and have won 13 of their past 16 games.
Pittsburgh hosts No. 20 Miami on Saturday, and Wake Forest hosts North Carolina State, also on Saturday.
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