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CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) - Trey McGowens scored 26 points, Xavier Johnson added 23 points and Pittsburgh defeated Boston College 80-70 on Tuesday night in the first round of the ACC Tournament.
The explosive freshmen combined to shoot 14 of 28 from the field and make 19 of 26 free throws as the 14th-seeded Panthers won their second straight game since snapping a 13-game losing streak.
Jared Wilson-Frame chipped in with 16 points and nine rebounds for Pittsburgh (14-18).
The victory propels the Panthers into Wednesday night's second round matchup against former Big East rival Syracuse, the tournament's sixth seed.
Nik Popovic had 21 points and nine rebounds to lead Boston College (14-17), which shot 35.6 percent from the field and trailed by as many as 27 in the second half before cutting it to nine with 58 seconds left.
The Panthers closed the first half on a 23-5 run to take a commanding 36-21 lead at the break. Boston College failed to make a field goal in the final 9:17 before intermission and shot 25 percent.
Johnson provided the boost with huge plays on both ends of the court for Pitt. He repeatedly got to the hole scoring 14 points, and had two steals that led to two layups. The Panthers picked up where they left off in the second half as McGowens scored nine of the team's first 17 points.
BIG PICTURE
Pittsburgh: The Panthers have taken their lumps this year winning only three regular season ACC games, but Johnson and McGowens are going to be trouble for the next couple of seasons. Both have NBA potential.
Boston College: The Eagles have to find something on offense, where they looked out of sync for most of the game. They were just 6 of 25 from beyond the 3-point arc and could really use a knockdown shooter.
UP NEXT:
Pittsburgh: Will play Syracuse, who they lost to by nine points in both previous games this season, in the second round.
Boston College: Season over.
NOTES:
Pitt (14-18) advanced to Wednesday’s 9 p.m. second-round game versus No. 6 seed Syracuse (19-12) … The Orange swept the regular-season series, winning 74-63 at the Carrier Dome on Jan. 19 and 65-56 at Pitt on Feb. 2.
Pitt evened its all-time ACC Tournament record at 5-5 and improved to 2-1 in first-round games.
Boston College (14-17) is now 10-14 overall in the ACC Tournament and 6-6 in the opening round.
First-round games between the No. 11 and No. 14 ACC Tournament seeds are now split evenly at 3-3.
Tuesday night marked the first time Pitt and Boston College had met in the ACC Tournament … The Panthers lead the all-time series between the schools 35-19.
Pitt freshman Trey McGowens finished with a game-high 26 points, his highest scoring output since scoring 30 in a 75-62 victory over Florida State on Jan. 14.
McGowens’ freshman classmate Xavier Johnson registered his 28th double-figure scoring game of the season with 23 points … Johnson’s 28 double-figure scoring games are a Pitt freshman single-season record … Johnson also became the 10th Pitt underclassman and the first freshman to score at least 500 points in a season (508 through Tuesday night).
Pitt senior Jared Wilson-Frame went 3-for-9 from 3-point range and became the third player in program history with 90 or more 3-point field goals in a season … Wilson-Frame has connected on exactly 90 shots from beyond the arc this season.
The Panthers outscored the Eagles 42-18 in the paint and held a 26-17 edge in fastbreak points.
Nik Popovic led Boston College with 21 points and just missed a double-double with nine rebounds … Popovic scored at least 20 points in three of the Eagles’ final four games.
The Eagles’ Jordan Chatman went 10-for-11 from the foul line, matching his season and career high for made free throws in a game.
Boston College’s Ky Bowman, who entered the game as the ACC’s active career scoring leader, added 14 points to push his three-year total to 1,661.
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