Anson Whaley should be here later to provide a full recap of the game, but I’ll just pop in to point out that, to no one’s surprise, Pitt is about to defeat No. 16 seed UNC-Asheville by a large margin. No. 8 Butler has already defeated No. 9 Old Dominion, so Butler will be Pitt’s next opponent.
Butler has won its last 10 games, but this should be another very winnable game for the Panthers. Butler was beaten by 15 early in the season by Louisville, and blown out by Duke. The Bulldogs also narrowly lost to Xavier. Their biggest wins include Florida State and Washington State. They finished 13-5 in the relatively weak Horizon Conference. Butler may have nearly won the whole tournament last year, but that’s probably less relevant here than its performance this year, which hasn’t been elite or anything near it.
Here’s a Butler preview at SB Nation.com.
And as I type, the final score is in – Pitt wins, 74-51, thanks in part to 26 points by Ashton Gibbs and 11 rebounds by Gary McGhee. Anson will likely be in with more later.