Pittsburgh Plays It Smart With Knight

Playing nearly 40 minutes with a pulled leg muscle and a sprained finger was simply exercise for Brandin Knight.

Mental exercise.

The junior point guard had nine assists, five steals and 17 points in leading Pittsburgh past Central Connecticut State, 71-54, Friday in a first-round South Regional game before a loud partisan crowd at Mellon Arena.

“That was Brandin leading and that’s why I call him the Einstein of point guards,” Coach Ben Howland said. “Great players make plays and he made the plays.”

Knight was impatient with queries about the thigh injury he’d suffered days earlier in the Big East tournament final.

“The leg is fine and that’s it,” he said. “The answer is not going to change. So please, no more questions about the leg.”

Fourteenth-seeded Central Connecticut State (27-5) came in with the nation’s longest winning streak at 19 games and pulled within 43-40 with 9:38 to play. But Pitt guard Julius Page made a three-point basket and the third-seeded Panthers (28-5) pulled away for their first tournament victory since 1991.

Page made four of six from long range and scored 16 points. Corsley Edwards scored 16 points for Central Connecticut and Damian Battles had 15.

Although Knight, brother of NBA guard Brevin Knight, made only one of eight three-point shots, his defense and passing kept the Panthers comfortably ahead down the stretch. He had seven of his assists in the second half.

“I’ve been looking forward to playing in the NCAA tournament since I came here,” Knight said.

“I couldn’t miss this opportunity for the world. I decided to go out and play with a clear mind, not worry [about the leg] and I’m glad we came out with the win.”