Courtney Pigram

Sloppy top-seeded Pitt escapes East Tenn. 72-62Saturday, March 21, 2009 By TOM WITHERS, AP Sports WriterPrintDAYTON, Ohio —  Pittsburgh intends make history in this year's NCAA tournament. The Panthers almost did in their first game. Playing as a No. 1 seed for the first time but hardly looking the part, Pitt overcame a sloppy performance and a frightful 40 minutes from No. 16 seed East Tennessee State to advance with a 72-62 win on Friday in the East Regional.Pitt's massive center DeJuan Blair bullied his way inside for 27 points and 16 rebounds as the Panthers (29-4) managed to extend their season, which with a little more than four minutes left was in jeopardy of ending sooner than they ever imagined."We survived," Blair said.Barely.ETSU, a small college tucked in the rolling hills of northeast Tennessee, nearly pulled off the shocker of shockers.A No. 16 has never beaten a No. 1."We had them," said senior guard Kevin Tiggs. "We just couldn't get over the hump."Pittsburgh, trying to...

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