Pitt dispatches NC State, grabs double bye for ACC tournament

Carlton Carrington poured in 23 points as Pittsburgh completed its regular season with an 81-73 victory over visiting North Carolina State on Saturday night.

The Panthers (21-10, 12-8 Atlantic Coast Conference) ended the season on a three-game winning streak, allowing them to clinch a top-four seed in the conference for a double bye in next week's ACC tournament.

Blake Hinson added 21 points for Pitt, while Ishmael Leggett finished with nine points and eight rebounds.

Jayden Taylor had a game-high 28 points and added seven boards for the Wolfpack (17-14, 9-11). DJ Burns Jr. had nine points and four rebounds.

After Taylor made a layup to put North Carolina State up 23-21 with 8:42 to go in the first half, the Panthers closed the period on an 18-6 run to take a 39-29 lead into the break.

That half-ending outburst included a 10-1 spurt that Burns put a stop to with a jumper with 4:40 to go. Federiko Federiko followed with a dunk, Carrington converted a layup and Hinson made a successful trip to the foul line to bump the Panthers' lead to 11 at 37-26.

Taylor's three-point play ahead of a Hinson jumper created the 10-point margin at intermission. With a windmill dunk, Zack Austin emphatically helped the Panthers go up by as many as 17 just under 3 1/2 minutes into the second half.

North Carolina State wouldn't come within single digits of Pitt until Taylor sank a pair of treys in a 30-second span, making it a six-point game, 70-64, with 4:41 to play. Taylor converted a pair of free throws at the 3:59 mark, then one more 1:33 later to make it 70-67.

Federiko stopped the bleeding with a layup, Carrington and Taylor traded threes and the Wolfpack regrouped with 59 seconds left. Out of that timeout, Guillermo Diaz Graham put down a dunk and added a free throw after being fouled to give Pitt a 78-70 advantage.

Carrington answered a Mohamed Diarra trey with two free throws, and Austin made another foul shot before the final buzzer.