Pitt will look to continue its ascent in the Atlantic Coast Conference on Tuesday night when it hosts struggling Louisville.
The Panthers (16-7, 9-3) have won three in a row and five of their past six games to move into a tie for second place in the conference.
Nelly Cummings scored 21 points and Jamarius Burton sank a pair of free throws with 3.6 seconds remaining to lift Pitt to a 65-64 win over North Carolina on Wednesday.
Cummings made 8 of 11 shots from the floor against the Tar Heels and 5 of 6 from 3-point range — including three straight in a 1-minute, 12-second sequence in the second half.
“I do a lot of film study, so I knew those shots would be available,” Cummings said, per the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review.
“Once (Cummings) saw one go in, the basket got bigger and bigger and his confidence grew,” Panthers assistant coach Jason Capel said on the 93.7 FM postgame show.
The basket likely looked smaller for Cummings in Pitt’s 75-54 win over Louisville on Jan. 18. He made just 1 of 8 shots from the floor and 1 of 6 from beyond the arc.
Greg Elliott picked up Cummings in that game by recording a season-high 23 points. He made 9 of 12 shots from the floor and 5 of 8 from 3-point range.
El Ellis paced Louisville (3-20, 1-11) with 19 points in that game. He added 22 on Saturday; however, the Cardinals lost for the 11th time in 12 outings with an 81-78 setback vs. Florida State.
Ellis, who boasts team-best averages in points (17.2) and assists (4.8), credited his team’s resolve after it erased a 17-point deficit before falling short in the end.
“I just feel like at the end of the day, if we just keep fighting and we keep staying together, there’s no game that we can’t stay in — or game we can’t win,” he said.
Freshman Kamari Lands matched a season high with 15 points against Florida State and Jae’Lyn Withers added 14 after sinking 4 of 6 attempts from 3-point range for the second straight game.
–Field Level Media
