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Pitt plays sloppy but still wins

PITTSBURGH — Winning while committing 22 turnovers is winning the hard way, but that’s exactly what Pittsburgh did, as the Panthers overcame their offensive miscues and survived a second-half scare to defeat High Point 71-63 on Tuesday.

Freshman point guard Marcus Carr scored a career-high 19 points and shot 5-for-5 from the floor, 3-for-3 from 3-point range and 6-for-6 at the free throw line as part of a Pitt team that shot 55 percent overall.

But Carr also had five turnovers as High Point used a second-half full-court press to close what had been a 10-point second-half lead for Pitt into a tight finish.

“We’ve got to do a better job locking in, really just being strong on the ball and taking care of the ball,” Carr said. “A lot of that was on me, my part. I had five turnovers myself. It’s unacceptable.”

Pitt had 12 more turnovers than High Point’s 10, giving the underdogs the extra possessions they needed to keep the game close despite only shooting 37.3 percent from the floor.

“We did some really good things,” Pitt coach Kevin Stallings said. “I thought we defended really well. We obviously shot our free throws well going down the stretch. We didn’t take care of the ball.”

After High Point had taken a three-point lead just after the midpoint of the second period, Pitt locked down on defense, holding High Point to one field goal over the next four minutes and re-established the lead.

“Just kind of some empty possessions late in the game and give them credit, they made some timely shots,” High Point coach Scott Cherry said. “Still, right there with a chance to play and win the game. . That’s pretty good for our group.”

Senior forward Ryan Luther scored 15 points and led Pitt with eight rebounds. Luther has cracked double figures in scoring in six of Pitt’s first seven games.

Pitt won back-to-back games for the first time this season and did so with a deeper bench than in the previous game. Kevin Stallings played a season-high 15 players, including every single one of his 12 eligible scholarship players. Pitt is in a stretch of three games in seven days.

Up next

Pitt will play cross-town rival Duquesne Friday in the neutral-site City Game at Pittsburgh’s PPG Paints Arena.

HIGH POINT (2-4): Mutts 5-8 3-4 13, Fox 8-19 2-2 20, Kamga 3-18 4-4 10, Slay 6-11 0-0 12, Madison 2-4 0-0 4, Whitehead 0-2 0-0 0, Vargo 0-1 0-0 0, Berlin 0-0 0-2 0, White 1-4 2-3 4, Wright 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 25-67 11-15 63.

PITTSBURGH (3-4): Luther 4-7 5-6 15, Chukwuka 1-2 0-0 2, Milligan 2-4 8-8 12, Carr 5-5 6-6 19, Wilson-Frame 4-8 0-0 11, George 0-0 0-0 0, Brown 0-0 0-0 0, Ilegomah 0-0 0-2 0, Davis 1-3 0-0 2, Boykins 0-1 0-0 0, Stewart 1-2 0-0 2, Mascaro 0-0 0-0 0, Smith 0-0 0-0 0, Starzynski 0-0 0-0 0, Stevenson 4-8 0-0 8. Totals 22-40 19-22 71.

Halftime–Pittsburgh 30-27. 3-Point Goals–High Point 2-11 (Fox 2-6, Mutts 0-1, Slay 0-1, Vargo 0-1, Kamga 0-2), Pittsburgh 8-19 (Carr 3-3, Wilson-Frame 3-5, Luther 2-4, Davis 0-1, Stevenson 0-1, Boykins 0-1, Stewart 0-1, Chukwuka 0-1, Milligan 0-2). Fouled Out–Mutts. Rebounds–High Point 26 (Mutts, Kamga 5), Pittsburgh 32 (Luther 8). Assists–High Point 9 (Kamga 4), Pittsburgh 14 (Luther 5). Total Fouls–High Point 17, Pittsburgh 15.

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