NEW YORK - Things looked a lot like the last several Big East championship games for Pittsburgh. Except the result.
Panthers claim big prize, take down Hibbert, Hoyas
March 16, 2008 at 4:55AM
Ronald Ramon scored 17 points, and the Panthers won their second conference tournament championship with a 74-65 victory over top-seeded Georgetown on Saturday night.
"They just played like they wanted to win," Georgetown's Jessie Sapp said of Pitt. "They made a lot of hustle plays and you wouldn't have known they played four days. They just played hard."
Pittsburgh's only title came in 2003 -- under coach Ben Howland, who left for UCLA after that season.
Roy Hibbert had 17 points for the Hoyas (27-5), who were trying to sweep the regular-season and tournament titles for a second straight season.
Sam Young had 16 points and was selected tournament MVP. DeJuan Blair had 10 points and 10 rebounds as Pittsburgh (26-9) finished with a 41-29 rebound edge.
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Minnesota protected its playoff position and moved closer to the third-place spot in the Central that Colorado swiped last week.
