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Canisius University Athletics

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Tre Dinkins tries to get through two Pitt defenders in a men's basketball game at Pitt on Dec. 9, 2023.
Anthony Militello
71
Canisius Canis 6-5,1-1 MAAC
82
Winner Pittsburgh UP 7-3,0-1 ACC
Canisius Canis
6-5,1-1 MAAC
71
Final
82
Pittsburgh UP
7-3,0-1 ACC
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 F
Canisius Canis 41 30 71
Pittsburgh UP 40 42 82

Game Recap: Men's Basketball |

Pitt Fights Back to Defeat Men’s Basketball

Pitt used an 8-0 run over the span of 1:17 late in the second half to pull away from Canisius en route to an 82-71 victory Saturday night in non-conference men's basketball action in the Peterson Events Center in Pittsburgh, Pa. The win moved the Panthers to 7-3 on the season, while the Golden Griffins fell to 6-5 with the loss.
 
Three Canisius players scored in double-figures in the losing effort, led by senior Siem Uijtendaal, who recorded a team-high 18 points to go along with six rebounds and a team best five assists. Junior Tre Dinkins added 15 points, three assists and a steal, while fellow junior Frank Mitchell chipped in 12 points to go along with a game-high nine rebounds. As a team, Canisius shot 53.1 percent from the field, made 9-of-24 tries from 3-point land and connected on all 10 free-throws in the loss.
 
For Pitt, forward Blake Hinson scored a game-high 26 points, while Carlton Carrington added 16 points, five assists and four rebounds. Guard Ishmael Leggett added 15 points, five boards and five assists to the winning cause for the Panthers, who shot 53.4 percent from the floor in the win, with 12 of the team's 31 field goals coming from 3-point range.
 
GAME RECAP
Canisius led 41-40 at halftime after the Griffs made seven 3-point field goals in the game's opening 20 minutes of play. Out of the intermission, Canisius took a six-point lead with 15:51 left to play on the power of six-straight points over the span of 2:25. In that run, the Griffs got baskets from Mitchell, sophomore Youri Fritz and Uijtendaal to make the score 49-43 in favor of the visiting team. Moments later, Hinson made a pair of free-throws to cut the Griffs' cushion to 51-47, but a traditional 3-point play by Uijtendaal with 13:16 showing on the clock gave the Blue and Gold their largest lead of the night at 54-47.
 
Back-to-back 3-pointers by Pitt and a jumper by Hinson with 10:34 left to play put the Panthers back up two at 56-54, but Canisius tied the game on its next trip down the floor when senior Bryce Okpoh knocked down a 12-foot jumper on the baseline. After getting a defensive stop, Canisius retook the lead at 59-56 with 9:29 remaining after junior TJ Gadsden drained three free-throws. Pitt scored four-straight points to regain the lead at 60-59, but the Griffs answered once again on their next possession, as Mitchell scored in the paint to put Canisius up 61-60 with 8:11 left to play.
 
On their next possession, the Panthers started their decisive 8-0 run when Leggett knocked down one of his three 3-point baskets on the night to make the score 63-61 in favor of the home team. Moments later, Leggett capped the Panthers' 8-0 spurt with another 3-point make, this time a bank-shot high off the glass with 6:37 remaining, which made the score 68-61. In the game's final 6:25, the Griffs got within four points on two different occasions, but Hinson ended the Griffs' hope for a road win by scoring five points over the contest's next 1:28 to seal the win for the Panthers.
 
HEAD COACH REGGIE WITHERPSPOON'S POSTGAME COMMENTS
"I thought this was a really good college basketball game. It was hard-fought and both teams played at a high pace. Pitt is a really good team. They're so big and so long, they really presented us with some problems, especially when they went to the zone on defense there in the second half."
 
"The difference tonight was turnovers. We had 15, they only had eight. They turned our 15 turnovers into 16 points. In games like this, the margin for error is so slim. When we turned it over, it obviously hurt us on offense, but it hurt us defensively too, because they were able to get out and move the ball and find an open man. In the first half, we were better at taking care of the ball. We didn't have any loud turnovers that ended up as run-outs and then baskets. We were a bit more in control and we had the ability to control the pace of the game a bit better."
 
"I think when you play teams like Pitt and Syracuse, it really illustrates the little things, and how important those little things are. You need to be really good in every aspect. You need to take care of the ball. You have to block out, you have to come up with that loose ball. It really forces us to be locked all the way in on every possession. Lessons like that are critical as we get closer and closer to playing conference games."
 
GAME NOTES
• Saturday was the fifth all-time meeting between Canisius and Pitt. The Panthers now lead the series 3-2.
• The game featured 15 lead changes and eight ties.
• Canisius is the first team to shoot better than 50.0 percent from the field against Pitt this season. The Panthers entered Saturday's game ranked 50th in the nation in field goal percentage defense.
• Both teams had 25 rebounds in the game, but the Griffs were only able to grab three offensive rebounds, which is a season low.
• Uijtendaal extended his streak of scoring in double-figures to 10-straight games.
• Dinkins' three 3-point field goals gives him multiple makes from behind the 3-point arc in nine of the team's 11 games this season.
• Mitchell's nine rebounds gives him five-or more boards in 10 games this year.
• Junior TJ Porter came off the bench and scored six points on the power of two 3-point field goals. Saturday was the second time in his collegiate career where he made multiple treys in a game.

UP NEXT
Canisius will be off for the next 12 days before returning to action Dec. 22 at High Point for its final non-conference game of the 2023-24 regular season. The first meeting between the Griffs and the Panthers is scheduled to tip-off at 7 p.m., and it will be broadcast live on ESPN+. The audio call can be found through Golden Griffin Broadcast Network at GoGriffs.com, with the M&T Bank Pregame Show starting at 6:40 p.m.
 
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