National Basketball Association
BOXSCORE | RECAP
Pittsburgh 77, Colorado 48
When: 1:40 PM ET, Thursday, March 20, 2014
Where: Amway Center, Orlando, Florida
Officials: # Rick Crawford, # Joe DeRosa, # Brian O'Connell
Attendance: N/A


Pittsburgh 77, Colorado 48: Talib Zanna scored 16 of his 18 points in the first half as the Panthers routed the Buffaloes in a second-round NCAA tournament game in Orlando, Fla.

Cameron Wright added 11 points and three steals for No. 9 seed Pittsburgh (26-9), which led by 28 at the break and posted its largest margin of victory in NCAA tournament play. Lamar Patterson chipped in with 10 points while James Robinson contributed six rebounds and eight assists as the Panthers advanced to Saturday’s third-round game in the South Region against top-seeded Florida.

Josh Scott finished with 14 points for eighth-seeded Colorado (23-12), which ended its season with consecutive losses of at least 20 points after dropping a 63-43 decision to Arizona in the Pac-12 tournament semifinals last week. Xavier Johnson had 11 points and was the only other Buffalo to score in double figures.

Pittsburgh raced out to a 13-0 lead just over five minutes into the game behind eight points from Zanna during a first half in which the Panthers shot 62.1 percent while forcing 10 turnovers, eight of which came via steals. Wesley Gordon hit a 3-pointer and Scott followed with a jumper to briefly stem the tide, but the Buffaloes suffered a field-goal drought of nearly six minutes and trailed 30-7 following a dunk from Zanna with 7:21 left in the first half.

After Johnson hit a jumper to answer Zanna’s dunk, Patterson drained a triple as Pittsburgh built a 46-18 advantage at the break. The Panthers led by as many as 32 and did not allow Colorado to get any closer than 27 points the rest of the way.

GAME NOTEBOOK: Pittsburgh’s first-half output was two points shy of its point total in Saturday’s 51-48 loss to Virginia in the ACC tournament semifinals. … The Panthers, who committed a season-low three turnovers, recorded 12 steals and forced 17 total miscues by Colorado. … Pittsburgh held its sixth opponent to fewer than 50 points.

Top Game Performances
 
Pittsburgh   Colorado
Talib Zanna 18 Scoring Josh Scott 14
James Robinson 8 Assists Tre'Shaun Fletcher 1
James Robinson 6 Rebounds Josh Scott 6
Talib Zanna 6 Free Throws Made Josh Scott 6
James Robinson 3 Steals Jaron Hopkins 1
Talib Zanna 2 Blocks N/A
Team Stats Summary
 
Team Points FG% 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA Assists Rebounds Blocks Steals Turnovers
Pittsburgh 77 50.8 4-14 11-12 18 29 3 12 3
Colorado 48 35.7 4-16 14-18 5 26 0 2 17