Panthers push around No. 1 team for victory

HARTFORD, CONN. — After the school’s 13 losses to No. 1-ranked teams, Pittsburgh broke through on Monday with a 76-68 victory over top-ranked Connecticut.

DeJuan Blair had 22 points and 23 rebounds and Levance Fields scored all 10 of his points in the final 3 minutes 9 seconds of the No. 4 Panthers’ victory.

Fields missed his first seven shots from the field, but the senior guard gave Pitt (24-2, 11-2 Big East) the lead for good with a three-point field goal with 3:09 left that made it 64-61. He added another three with 2:21 left to make it 67-61, and he added four free throws in the final minute.

A.J. Price had 18 points for the Huskies (24-2, 12-2), who started their third week at No. 1 earlier Monday and had their 13-game winning streak ended.

The game was expected to be physical down low, and it was with the 6-foot-7 Blair flipping the 7-3 Hasheem Thabeet over his back in the first half, sending him to the bench for about four minutes.

Blair got a dose back in the second half when he had to leave the game for almost three minutes after taking an elbow to the face.