Virginia Cavaliers vs Pittsburgh Panthers Box Score on Feb 22, 2020

Kihei Clark scored a game-high 17 points and visiting Virginia survived a furious Pittsburgh run down the stretch for a 59-56 win Saturday in Atlantic Coast Conference action.

Mamadi Diakite, Braxton Key and Tomas Woldetensae added 10 each for the Cavaliers (19-7, 11-5 ACC), who have won four straight and seven of their last eight games. The defending national champions still have home dates left with Duke and ACC front-runner Louisville.

Xavier Johnson scored 16 points for the Panthers (15-13, 6-11) and Au'Diese Toney added 13, but it wasn't enough to prevent them from dropping their fourth consecutive game despite a huge rally in the final 3 1/2 minutes from a 54-41 deficit.

Pittsburgh had a chance to tie or take the lead after forcing a shot clock violation with 21.8 seconds left, but Trey McGowens' step-back 3-pointer from the right wing rimmed out. Key rebounded and made 1 of 2 foul shots with 4.3 seconds remaining.

The Panthers' last chance to extend the game concluded with a poorly executed final play that saw them fail to squeeze off a tying 3-point attempt.

The Cavaliers took control with a 13-2 run over the first 7:42 of the second half, establishing a 44-31 lead when Key converted a layup off his offensive rebound. The margin reached 14 points with just over five minutes left before the Panthers' final push.

Virginia opened up a quick 7-2 lead on Jay Huff's 3-pointer just 2:55 into the game. Pitt responded with a 10-2 burst, taking a 12-9 edge at the 13:15 mark when Johnson converted a layup and a 3-pointer on consecutive possessions.

The half's remainder was a back-and-forth affair. The Cavaliers responded with seven straight points to grab a 16-12 advantage, but the Panthers answered with five in a row to regain the lead. Virginia had the final say, though, using a 3-pointer from Clark to establish a 31-29 edge at intermission.

--Field Level Media