Mississippi State Ripped for Lackluster Offense in Loss vs. Pitt in First Four
The Pittsburgh Panthers' championship dreams are still alive.
No. 11 Pittsburgh defeated the Mississippi State Bulldogs 60-59 in Tuesday's back-and-forth First Four game of the 2023 NCAA men's basketball tournament in Dayton, Ohio, and clinched a first-round matchup against sixth-seeded Iowa State in the Midwest Region.
It seemed as if the Bulldogs might escape with a win with a 7-0 run to take the lead in the final minutes, but Jamarius Burton's shot in the lane in crunch time proved to be the difference. Shakeel Moore's three on the other end rimmed out, and Pittsburgh survived.
It was fitting that Moore's three-pointer was unguarded, as the SEC representative shot an ugly 38.1 percent from the field and 6-of-23 (26.1 percent) from deep.
That offensive display drew plenty of criticism:
This figured to be a close matchup of contrasting styles, as Pittsburgh was No. 24 in adjusted offensive efficiency and No. 142 in adjusted defense efficiency compared to Mississippi State's No. 163 offense and No. 6 defense in KenPom.com's rankings.
That defense helped the Bulldogs defeat Marquette, TCU and Texas A&M during the season, while the Panthers' offense was key in wins over Northwestern, North Carolina State, North Carolina, Virginia and Miami.
While the Panthers were without big man Federiko Federiko because of a knee injury, they turned to that perimeter offense and hit eight three-pointers in the first half alone to jump out to an early lead.
Mississippi State, which was last in the country in three-point percentage, struggled to keep pace from the outside but remained in the game with strong defense and a willingness to attack the basket and go down low.
The offensive issues made it seem like the game was over when Blake Hinson drilled a deep three to put the Panthers up six with just over three minutes remaining, but the Bulldogs finally came alive with their late run.
It still wasn't enough, though, and Pittsburgh will have a chance to parlay this win into a victory over the Cyclones on Friday.
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