Tray Woodall was named the Big East player of the week today, and his performance yesterday against Villanova may have ahd something to do with the honor. That and the fact that Pitt hasn’t lost a game since Tray has been completely healthy.
He averaged an insane 26.5 points, 4 assists and 5 rebounds over the past week and has helped the Panthers move out of the Big East basement and up six spots in the standings.
Woodall lead the Panthers to a 79-70 win over Villanova on Sunday, scoring a career-high 29 points, proving yet again how important he is to the team’s success. Ashton Gibbs chipped in with 25 points and they both shot 100% from the free throw line (Tray: 12-12, Gibbs: 7-7). Pitt, as a team, shot 87% from the line, a rare occurrence for an otherwise historically poor free-throw shooting team.
Pitt is now on a four-game winning streak thanks in large part to Tray and the improvement in overall team shooting. Pitt, as a team, shot 43% from the floor after overcoming a poor start, missing seven of their first eight shots. Gibbs and Woodall led the team by hitting two threes apiece to send the Panthers on a 22-2 run after the slow start as Pitt took a 12-point lead into the locker room at the half.
Villanova made it close in the second half thanks in large part to poor shooting by Pitt, but the Panthers free-throw shooting helped them secure the victory in the end. Nova made it as close as 71-68 with 23 seconds lefti n the game but Nasir Robinson hit Woodall on a long inbounds pass from the baseline that Tray turned into a converted layup, followed by drawing the foul. He hit both the free throws to complete the four-point play and put Pitt up by eight and seal the win.
Pitt will have a chance to extend its winning streak to five games when the Panthers play at struggling South Florida on Wednesday. The Bulls got beat down by No. 14 Georgetown on Saturday. The Panthers need to keep this streak going to have any shot at a NCAA tournament selection.
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