Wake Forest Demon Deacons at Pittsburgh Panthers
· ACC MEN'S TOURNAMENT - 2nd ROUND
55 - 84
Pitt wins ACC tourney debut, 84-55 over Wake
Talib Zanna added 17 points to help the fifth-seeded Panthers (24-8) win their ACC tournament debut.
They never trailed, shot 50 percent and established a 38-30 rebounding advantage while giving Wake Forest one of the most lopsided ACC tournament losses in school history.
Pitt beat Wake Forest for the second time this season and claiming just its second conference tournament victory in any league since 2008.
The Panthers will play No. 15 North Carolina, the tournament's fourth seed, in a quarterfinal Friday.
Josh Newkirk added 10 points for the Panthers, who went one-and-done in four of their final five trips to the Big East tournament before coming into the ACC this year along with Syracuse and Notre Dame.
Their first regular season in their new league ended with a decent amount of stress: Four of the Panthers' previous five victories went to overtime, and until now, they hadn't had the luxury of coasting since they beat Clemson by 33 on Jan. 21.
Part of the reason this one was so easy was because Pitt completely neutralized Wake Forest big man Devin Thomas.
Thomas was coming off a 19-point, 10-rebound effort against the Fighting Irish, but he finished this one with eight points and six rebounds before fouling out against a Pitt team that had allowed only two double-figure rebounders in its previous seven games.
The Demon Deacons were 6-1 this season when Thomas had at least 10 rebounds.
But at no point during this game did that seem like a possibility.
The Panthers set the tone early by scoring on eight of their first nine possessions and needing only about 5 1/2 minutes to push their lead into double figures. Pitt went up 39-23 on Zanna's three-point play with 34.4 seconds left in the half and pulled away in the second half.
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Recent Plays
| 2nd 0:00 | End of Game | 55 - 84 |
| 2nd 0:28 | Aron Nwankwo made Free Throw. | 55 - 84 |
| 2nd 0:28 | Pittsburgh Deadball Team Rebound. | 55 - 83 |
| 2nd 0:28 | Aron Nwankwo missed Free Throw. | 55 - 83 |
| 2nd 0:28 | Foul on Arnaud William Adala Moto. | 55 - 83 |
Statistics
 WAKE |
 PITT |
|
|---|---|---|
| 18-53 | FG | 31-62 |
| 34 | Field Goal % | 50 |
| 4-18 | 3PT | 7-16 |
| 22 | Three Point % | 44 |
| 15-20 | FT | 15-20 |
| 75 | Free Throw % | 75 |
| 30 | Rebounds | 38 |
| 12 | Offensive Rebounds | 14 |
| 18 | Defensive Rebounds | 24 |
| 6 | Assists | 20 |
| 3 | Steals | 10 |
| 2 | Blocks | 3 |
| 14 | Turnovers | 8 |
| 0 | Team Turnovers | 0 |
| 14 | Total Turnovers | 8 |
| 0 | Technical Fouls | 0 |
| 0 | Total Technical Fouls | 0 |
| 0 | Flagrant Fouls | 0 |
| 0 | Points Off Turnovers | 0 |
| 0 | Fast Break Points | 0 |
| 0 | Points in Paint | 0 |
| 18 | Fouls | 20 |
Game Information
Location: Greensboro, NC
Attendance: 21,533 | Capacity:
2025-26 Atlantic Coast Conference Standings
| TEAM | CONF | GB | OVER |
|---|---|---|---|
| Duke | 17-1 | - | 35-3 |
| Virginia | 15-3 | 2 | 30-6 |
| Miami | 13-5 | 4 | 26-9 |
| North Carolina | 12-6 | 5 | 24-9 |
| Clemson | 12-6 | 5 | 24-11 |
| Louisville | 11-7 | 6 | 24-11 |
| NC State | 10-8 | 7 | 20-14 |
| Florida State | 10-8 | 7 | 18-15 |
| California | 9-9 | 8 | 22-12 |
| Stanford | 9-9 | 8 | 20-13 |
| Virginia Tech | 8-10 | 9 | 19-13 |
| SMU | 8-10 | 9 | 20-14 |
| Wake Forest | 7-11 | 10 | 18-17 |
| Syracuse | 6-12 | 11 | 15-17 |
| Pittsburgh | 5-13 | 12 | 13-20 |
| Notre Dame | 4-14 | 13 | 13-18 |
| Boston College | 4-14 | 13 | 11-20 |
| Georgia Tech | 2-16 | 15 | 11-20 |