Jan 5, 2002

Final Stats | Video Highlights

By JIMMY GOLEN
AP Sports Writer

BOSTON (AP) - Brandin Knight scored 20 points to lead Pittsburgh to a 77-74 victory over No. 11 Boston College on Saturday night, the Eagles' first home loss in almost two years.

Pitt (14-1, 2-0) held Troy Bell, the Big East's top scorer, without a point for the first 25 minutes to extend its winning streak to nine games and avenge a loss in last year's Big East tournament championship.

Boston College (12-2, 1-1 Big East) had won 25 consecutive games at the Conte Forum since losing to Pitt on Feb. 23, 2000 - the fifth-longest home win streak in the nation.

Don Zavackas scored 17 points, Jaron Brown had 15 with seven rebounds, and Knight also had seven boards for Pitt. Uka Agbai had 15 with nine rebounds, and Ryan Sidney scored 14 for BC.

Pitt took the lead for good on Knight's 3-pointer that made it 26-23 with 3:39 left in the first half. BC closed to within two points at 65-63 with 2:21 to play, but Brown made a backdoor layup, Zavackas and Knight each made a free throw and Ontario Lett made two to make it 71-63 while Bell missed from 3- and 2-point range.

Bell finished with 23 points after shooting 6-for-21 from the field, including 1-for-8 from 3-point range. But he didn't get on the board until he sank two free throws with 14:57 left in the game to cut the deficit to 41-35.

He made a 3-pointer with 13:35 left to start a run in which he scored 11 out of 14 BC points.

Pitt is off to its best start since the 1973-74 season, when it lost its opener and then won 22 in a row.

Video from

Pitt's Julius Page goes baseline and elevates for the two-handed stuff. 56k | 100k | 300k Donatas Zavackas blocks the Eagles' 3-point attempt with BC down four with 15 seconds left in the game. 56k | 100k | 300k Troy Bell leads the fastbreak and misses the layup, but Kenny Walls is there for the follow. 56k | 100k | 300k