The Pitt News
SGB DISCUSSES PLANS TO CONTINUE EMPHASIS ON HUMANITIES PG. 2
The independent student newspaper of the University of Pittsburgh | PIttnews.com | february 15, 2017 | Volume 107 | Issue 123
Blood test furthers Alzheimer’s research
PETAL PICKER
Alexis Carter Staff Writer
With a new blood test, Pitt researchers are hoping to determine whether the content of someone’s blood could indicate if their learning and memory abilities are in danger of diminishing. In a recent study, Pitt researchers Oscar Lopez and James Becker — in collaboration with researchers from the University of Chile — found higher ratios of abnormal tau levels in patients diagnosed with Alzheimer’s compared to the control group. Tau is a protein that keeps the brain’s nerve cells healthy. The proteins bind to microtubules — tube-shaped structures that shuttle nutrients from one end of the brain nerve cells to the other — and allow them to communicate with one another. In Alzheimer’s disease — which slowly destroys memory, thinking and the ability to perform simple daily tasks — abnormal tau proteins detach from the tube-like structures found inside the cell. The abnormal tau proteins become tangled, meaning nutrients cannot move among pathways between the brain and the body, and communication among surrounding nerve cells is severed. These higher ratios are associated with lower brain volume in areas important for learning and memory. A blood test that can detect the ratio of tau in the blood stream
Students create flower arrangements for Valentine’s Day during an event hosted by Pitt Program Council. Donny Falk STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
Grad student employees sign union cards Nolan Roosa
conference. At the same time, Pitt faculty members announced their own union campaign. Since then, organizers estimate they have After a year and a half of campaigning and gained a broad enough support base to begin colplanning, the Graduate Student Organizing lecting union cards to gauge interest for a union Committee is now one step closer to forming a among graduate student employees. They began union for graduate student employees at Pitt. collecting cards on Saturday at a rally and press The unionization effort has been in the works conference. According to Sarah Hakimzadeh, an since October 2015 when the committee voted to organizer with the committee, about 100 people affiliate with the United Steelworkers, a national attended the event, but she could not disclose how industrial union that has helped other Pittsburgh many people or who has signed cards. schools, such as Point Park University and Rob“The press conference on Saturday was a big ert Morris University, to successfully unionize. success,” Hakimzadeh said. “Overall, it was a reAt Pitt, the Committee officially announced their ally positive and energetic atmosphere, and evSee Study on page 2 campaign to unionize in January 2016 at a press Staff Writer
eryone left excited to do the work that’s ahead.” If more than 30 percent of graduate student employees sign cards of interest, USW will apply to hold an election at Pitt through the Pennsylvania Labor Board. In order to form a union and the right to collectively bargain for a labor contract with the University, a simple majority of those eligible must vote in favor of the union. There is no time constraint on reaching 30 percent support. At Pitt, 5,281 faculty members and about 3,000 graduate student employees are eligible to sign interest cards, though the Pennsylvania Labor Board will decide who is eligible to vote in a See Union on page 3
News
Editor’s Note: A previous version of the story “Brunches and big ideas: bookstore raises money for arrested protesters,” which ran Feb. 13, referred to Autumn Detchon by using the pronouns “her” and “she,” rather than Detchon’s actual pronouns, “them” and “they.” The online version of the story has been updated to reflect these changes. The Pitt News regrets these errors.
SGB discusses plans for new matching fund program James Evan Bowen-Gaddy Assistant News Editor
Continuing the success of past “Year of Diversity” and “Year of the Humanities” matching funds programs, SGB is working alongside a University committee to promote similar programs with an eye toward championing the humanities. According to board member Joseph Kannarkat, the humanities committee is a steering committee that wants to continue the mission of expanding humanities on campus. The committee, which is made up of about 20 faculty members with Kannarkat serving as a student representative, is hoping to propose a grant program similar to ones they have run in the past. “I think it’s this process of integration between different schools and ideologies,” Kannarkat said. “It’s a cool way to sort of integrate different areas of learning and understanding together to really promote different aspects of the University in different ways.” The committee hopes to have a proposal out by mid-summer or fall and does not yet know how much the allotment for the grant is or where the committee is going to cap the grant. Kannarkat said he would like to establish an
Study, pg. 1 could become a diagnostic tool for patients with Alzheimer’s — making it easier to identify the disease early on. “The importance of the early diagnosis is that if the right measures are taken at the right time, that will save money, and the burden of the disease will be reduced,” Lopez said. While these study’s findings are experimental — meaning they need to be replicated before any definite conclusions are drawn — Pitt researchers have long been making contributions to our knowledge base of Alzheimer’s disease. The Alzheimer’s Association estimates 5.4 million Americans age 65 or older cur-
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aspect of the program where the grant would match funds that the Allocations committee grants organizations for events that promote humanities on campus. Other members of the committee are working on specific projects, such as increasing cultural competence and establishing a series for medical humanities speakers. In other news, SGB plans to work closely with the Hillman Library staff during the library’s renovation, dubbed “The Hillman Library Reinvention.” Dhruv Kohli, the SGB Facilities, Technology and Transportation Chair, said the renovations will be geared toward creating a larger study space for students rather than using so much space for bookcases. “There’s a general shift in what the goal of what the facility is going to be,” Kohli said. “We’ve really been pushing for the space where students can come and study.” Through talks with the Hillman Library Reinvention Committee, Kohli said SGB is pushing to move a large portion of the book storage to an off-campus site from which students could request books that would then be delivered to the library within a day. Kohli also said SGB has received requests from students to include spaces such as a “reflection
room” or a stress free zone like what currently exists in the William Pitt Union. “It could be a place for students to do prayers or just sit and think,” Kohli said. Kohli said the renovation will begin on the fourth floor this summer semester and will continue for the next few years but couldn’t give a finite timeline. He did say SGB was working to keep students in the loop and that if any students were interested in seeing when a cerJoseph Kannarkat reveals plans to continue emtain portion of the library will be phasis on humanities. Anna Bongardino STAFF PHOrenovated, they can check the TOGRAPHER is looking to increase voter turnout. One of these construction status on Hillman’s methods, Lee said, is keeping voters informed website. Before next week’s meeting, students will have through resources like their voter’s guide. “I just really hope a lot of people come out and the opportunity to vote on who will be the next president and board members. Voting opens on vote,” Lee said. “When I was a freshman, I know a Feb. 21 at 8 a.m., and students can vote on my.pitt. lot of my other friends didn’t know it was happening until the day of [the election]. This year, we’re edu through 8 p.m. Julia Lee, Elections Committee Chair, said really trying to change that so that people see SGB since so many candidates are running this year — as something people really should care about... 19 as opposed to last year’s 10 — the committee we’re really here to serve the students.”
rently have Alzheimer’s disease. By 2050, the number may nearly triple due to the rapid number of aging Americans. No treatment options currently exist for Alzheimer’s disease. Thomas Detre, former senior vice chancellor of the health sciences, and Francois Boller, a former professor of neurology and psychiatry at Pitt, decided in 1983 the University needed to establish a strong research program for dementia, according to Becker. At that time, the decision was in response to the growing needs of older adults. In response, Detre and Boller applied for a grant from the National Institute on Aging — a subset of the National Institutes of Health — in 1985 to establish the Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center at Pitt to gain a better understanding of the disease through
clinical advancements and community outreach. “Success breeds success, so over the past 30 years, other parts of the University have built on that foundation,” Becker said. Because of the Center’s strong foundation, they are able to collaborate with researchers across the University — ranging from geriatric medicine to radiology. The Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center has a strong focus on brain mapping, which according to Lopez is responsible for “the most important discovery in the past 10 years” in the field. Two Pitt professors, William Klunk and Chester Mathis, invented Pittsburgh Compound B in 2004 as a way to view the amount of buildup of a certain protein — called amyloid — in the brain of an Alzheimer’s patient.
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Pittsburgh Compound B, better known as PIB, is a radioactive compound injected into the bloodstream and then paired with a brain scan to determine levels of amyloid in a person’s brain. This allows researchers to detect the disease while the patient is alive rather than after their death through an autopsy. According to Lopez, in the past five years, researchers have now started to measure tau protein levels with PET scans, a type of brain scan, similar to the method used to visualize amyloid in the brain. “The field of amyloid is more mature, and we learned a lot about amyloid,” Lopez said. “We are learning about tau now. I would say that we are moving forward and are very See Study on page 3
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Union, pg. 1 union election. Across the country, over 30 universities have unions for graduate student employees, including Temple and Penn State. Penn State recently began aligning itself with the Pennsylvania State Education Association, which represents over 180,000 education professionals across the state, including teachers and support staff. Similar to Pitt, State College is currently pushing for more graduate student employees to sign cards so they can hold a vote. The union would be established if the majority of students vote in favor. The group is looking to negotiate agreements with the university on stipends, benefits, workload and a grievance procedure. At Pitt, graduate student employees are seeking more transparency in the decision-making process, according to a release from Saturday’s rally. They are also looking for protections against discrimination and harassment. Hakimzadeh said the University would benefit from having a unionized graduate student body because fairer working conditions will allow them to better serve students and do innovative research. “We’d have a real voice in decisions that affect us in the workplace,” Hakimzadeh said. “We’d
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be able to make sure that our working conditions are fair and that we are in the best position to serve our students as teachers and do our research at the highest level.” University spokesperson Joe Miksch said the group has already shared their concerns with the administration. “The University is aware of this issue and will continue to monitor developments,” Miksch said in an email. “The group of students involved in this effort have shared their concerns with University administration, and their communication is appreciated.” But not all graduate students are on board with the plans to unionize. Leonid Mirson, a first-year medical student at Pitt, said there isn’t enough to gain — and possibly something to lose — from forming a union. “By imposing arbitrary limits — [like] students cannot be forced to attend class for more than five hours a day — a union would only serve to weaken the University’s reputation and potentially harm students by not preparing them for future employment,” Mirson said in an email. Although Mirson considers himself a union supporter because of its ability to help employees improve their work environment, he said students in graduate schools don’t need the same kind of work environment.
“Each graduate school has different requirements and different types of sacrifices that students need to make for it,” he said. “When students are applying to graduate schools, they have a responsibility to ensure that the school they choose is the right fit for them.” Political science Ph.D. student Sean Craig said he is in favor of a union because graduate student employees are often overloaded with work and feel the urgency to take on multiple projects within their field. Because of this, he said, they don’t have the “greatest” mental health. According to a Rutgers University study, union-represented graduate student employees report higher levels of personal and professional support, and unionized graduate student employees fare better on pay. Both unionized and nonunionized students report similar perceptions of academic freedom. Craig, who said he is planning on sending in a card, said the goal of a union is not to change everything about the way graduate students work but rather just make it better. “It’s about improving relationships in the environments of the workers,” Craig said. “If the conditions are better or more transparent, then graduate student [employees] will be more productive, get better jobs...make the University look better.”
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Study, pg. 2 optimistic on how we are learning about the disease.” In order to continue furthering their knowledge, the Center also has a psychiatric database, funds young investigators at Pitt through pilot studies, participates with industries and conducts therapeutic trials. In addition to their research, they offer outreach at the Hill House — an organization dedicated to sustaining and enriching the lives of residents of the Hill District — to increase Alzheimer’s disease awareness for the AfricanAmerican community. “A lot of caregivers who are family members may think, ‘Is this going to happen to me?’” Maryn Formley, volunteer support group facilitator at the Hill House for the past four years, said. “A mechanism for early detection is great as long as it’s affordable and accessible.” Although Alzheimer’s disease research has a long way to go, the Center has made sure that their research focuses on the people and not the disease. “The Center has always been at the forefront of patient-oriented research,” Becker said. “I see that continuing.”
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FROM THE EDITORIAL BOARD: NO ME2 PIPELINE, PERIOD SEE ONLINE
column
We’ve had enough with whitewashing
Thomas Wick
are two upcoming films that have been criticized for whitewashing characters intended for Imagine an incredible story of a heroic white Asian actors — though whitewashing can occur male joined by a background cast of Asian ac- with any minority-intended role being played by tors in a film set in China. It might sound like a white actor. The first film is about a Chinese army bata strange way to describe a film, and it should tling dragons invading the Great Wall of China. — that’s the point. This is a brief description of And it casts a white actor, Matt Damon, as the a new film called “The Great Wall,” and it’s one lead character. According to director Zhang example of Hollywood’s long history of whitewashing — the act of casting a white person in a role that is intended for a non-white character. This practice was used in older films like “The Ten Commandments,” “The Conqueror” and “Breakfast at Tiffany’s,” but even as America has become more culturally, ethnically and racially diverse, the film industry still lags behind when it comes to representing these changes in our movies. With the majority of actions in Hollywood being white, it makes statistical sense that most of the leading roles would use white characters. But Hollywood does little to combat this and provide more inclusive casts representative of our diverse population. Often times roles with nonspecific race requirements almost always go to white actors by default and more often than not, roles with the opportunity for or even expectancy of non-dominant race actors still go to a white actors. It’s a pervasive issue throughout our culture and in Hollywood — and it needs Yimou, the role in question was never intended for a Chinese actor, as the plot is supposed to deto stop. The opportunities for roles of non-dominant pict a European mercenary, played by Damon, ethnicities are already low in America. Roughly who saves the Chinese army from the attacking 88 percent of films released in 2013 and 2014 dragons. This is about more than just an Asian actor had white directors, according to a Directors being passed over for the role. This is a version Guild of America report. And 73 percent of acof whitewashing that is more firmly rooted in tors in the top 100 films of 2014 were likewise the core of the issue — our society’s unconwhite, according to a 2014 study from the Uniscious preference for whiteness. Despite the film versity of Southern California. This is a twofold being set in China a thousand years ago, the issue: the more white directors and actors there writers created a storyline where a white, male are, the higher the odds that white actors will be protagonist must save the Chinese army, an obcast. And this leads to us seeing less non-white vious echo of the imperialism of the past. Percharacters in our movies, perpetuating the ideal petuating historical tropes like imperialism and of white movie stars as the best and most precolonialism, whether intended or not, creates a ferred. dangerous continuation of the age-old uncon“The Great Wall” and “Ghost in the Shell” Columnist
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scious notion that to be white, male and western is inherently better, stronger and more valued. And there are similar whitewashing criticisms about a new film, “Ghost in the Shell” — a live action adaptation of the popular anime of the same name, coming out on March 31. The franchise is about a counter-cyberterrorist organization led by a female cyborg named Major Motoko Kusanagi in mid-21st century Japan.
Liam McFadden STAFF ILLUSTRATOR Major Kusanagi, originally a Japanese female, is instead portrayed by Scarlett Johansson, a white actress. Johansson defended the whitewashing claims by saying she never intended to take the role away from any Asian actresses. Because of the likewise rare opportunities that exist in Hollywood for female leading characters, she welcomed the opportunity to star in the film. But regardless of Johansson’s intentions, she — a white woman — still took a role intended for an Asian woman. Johansson is simply ignoring the fact that the iconic anime character is supposed to be Japanese. And while we do need more representation of strong, independent female characters in Hollywood, it shouldn’t be at the expense of other underrepresented groups. And those with the most power to change
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our whitewashing tendencies in Hollywood, like actors, producers, writers and directors, aren’t even recognizing that this is an issue, highlighting it’s deeply ingrained nature. “I think whenever you cast someone, someone’s going to be critical of it. To me, I stand by my decision. She’s the best actress of her generation, and I was flattered and honored that she would be in this film,” said Rupert Sanders, the film’s director, in response to the furor. But the issue isn’t Johansson’s talent at all — it’s about giving minority actors more opportunities to be represented in Hollywood, especially when the role was originally made for someone of their race. We have seen some hopeful progress in recent films that are confronting whitewashing head- on. Suicide Squad, for instance, chose to promote diversity by casting Will Smith, a black actor, as Deadshot despite the original character being white. The 2017 Academy Awards nominations feature a more diverse lineup than last year with films like “Moonlight,” “Hidden Figures” and “Fences” receiving Best Picture nominations and black actor and actress Denzel Washington and Viola Davis also receiving nominations in the Best Performance category this year. And while we should be pressuring Hollywood to make sure our films are more diverse, it’s important for us to do this with our dollars as well as our voices. Speaking up on social media is a starting point, but make sure you are supporting the films that encourage diversity and punish those that don’t. Go see films with diverse casts in the theatres, multiple times if you can, and boycott films and franchises that could have cast more minority actors but failed to take the initiative. Because the last thing we want to see is an alien invasion movie set in Beijing with a white actor saving the day. Thomas primarily writes about visual media and gaming for the Pitt News. Write to him at tmw79@pitt.edu.
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Sports
SIX PANTHERS INVITED TO NFL COMBINE SEE ONLINE
SOFTBALL TEAM NATIONALLY RANKED SEE ONLINE
HOKIES POWER PAST PITT AT THE PETE, 66-63 Bayard Miller
Assistant Sports Editor
Cameron Johnson led the Panthers with 17 points Tuesday night, but it wasn’t enough for Pitt to defeat Virginia Tech. Donny Falk STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
The Pitt men’s basketball team entered its showdown with the Virginia Tech Hokies with a chance to extend its two-game winning streak and make a late-season tournament run. That momentum evaporated Tuesday night as the Hokies rallied to steal a 66-63 victory in front of a stunned Petersen Events Center crowd. Pitt (14-12 overall, 3-10 ACC) had an opportunity to win the game late, as the team got three open 3-point shots with less than 30 seconds left. All three attempts hit the rim, and the Hokies (18-7 overall, 7-6 ACC) walked away with a dramatic, come from behind win. “It hurts. It’s one we should’ve had,” Pitt guard Cameron Johnson said. “We had it, we played well in the first half. We just came out in the second half with a lack of urgency, and it really came back to bite us in the butt.” The Panthers took the lead early, starting the game with an 8-0 run capped by a 3-point basket from
point guard Jamel Artis. The team continued to shoot well over the next couple of minutes, and Virginia Tech coach Buzz Williams called a timeout after Pitt took a 18-8 lead with 14:22 left in the half. Shooting and rebounding were key to Pitt’s early success. The team shot 60 percent from the field in the first 10 minutes of play, while the Hokies shot half that at 30.8 percent. The Panthers dominated the boards as well, grabbing an 11-5 advantage in rebounds. The Hokies then began to cut into the lead, and a 3-pointer by guard Justin Robinson made it 27-20 with 6:58 left in the half. A minute later, the Hokies’ deficit was down to four after another 3-pointer. The Panthers responded, and two 3-point baskets by Artis and Johnson put Pitt back up by 10. Play was even for the rest of the half, and the Panthers took a 40-29 lead into the break. Johnson led the Panthers in the first half with 14 points and seven rebounds. The sophomore went 5-7 in the first half, including 4-5 from 3-point range. Guard Ahmed Hill led Virginia Tech in scoring, tally-
ing 10 points on 3-6 shooting. Crisp ball movement and strong play in the post helped free up room for Pitt outside shooters in the first half. “We moved the ball well in the first half,” Johnson said. “That really helped us to get open looks.” Virginia Tech started strong in the second half, cutting the Panthers’ lead to six in the opening four minutes. But a 3-pointer from Artis stretched it back to nine with 15:22 to go. The teams went back and forth over the next couple of minutes with the Hokies outscoring the Panthers 5-4. At the second media timeout of the half, Pitt led 52-44. Then, things started to fall apart for the Panthers. The Hokies surged, going on an 12-0 run to take a 53-52 lead, their first of the game. “We don’t do well when we face adverse situations,” Stallings said. “But we put ourselves in those because we start the second half slow and lethargic and kind of hoping they make it easy on us...These teams in this league aren’t going to See Basketball on page 9
Partridge named defensive line coach Bayard Miller
Assistant News Editor It didn’t take long for the Pitt football team to find a new defensive line coach — and one whose Pittsburgh ties run deep. Pitt head coach Pat Narduzzi announced Charlie Partridge as the Panthers’ new defensive line coach Tuesday afternoon in a press release. Partridge replaces Tom Sims, whom Narduzzi dismissed Feb. 4 after just two years with the
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team because of poor defensive play all season long. Partridge served as an assistant coach at Pitt from 2003 to 2007. He was the defensive line coach during his first four seasons with the team and worked with the linebackers in his final year. In addition to his other duties, he held the special teams coordinator position in 2006 and 2007. “Charlie’s familiarity with Pitt is a major asset, and the fact that he has ex-
perience as a head coach will benefit our entire staff,” Narduzzi said in the press release. “His reputation as a strong recruiter is highly deserved and will serve us well all across the ACC footprint, including Pittsburgh.” After his time with the Panthers, Partridge moved on to coach at Wisconsin from 2008 to 2012. Starting off as a defensive line and specialist coach, the team eventually promoted him to assistant head coach and co-defensive coordina-
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tor duties for his last two years with the Badgers. During his time in the Big Ten, he got to know Narduzzi, who was the defensive coordinator at Michigan State at the time. “I’ve been a big fan of Charlie’s work for a very long time,” Narduzzi said in the release. “I remember watching his defensive lines at Wisconsin and really admiring how they played...He’s an incredibly See Partridge on page 9
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Pittsburgh 63. “We ended up getting three good looks,” Stallings said. “We got more good looks than I was even hoping we could get. We were trying to get one, and we ended up getting three… we just didn’t make the shot.” After shooting 48.5 percent in the 20 minutes, Pitt shot only 33.3 percent in the second half. The drop-off in production has become a trend this season, and Stallings expressed his frustration in the team’s effort after the game. “I am very disappointed in that second half performance,” Stallings said. “It’s happened all season long, and our lack of oncourt direction really showed as the game went down the stretch. I can’t explain how you go from one half to another like that.” This loss hurts the Panthers, who led for over 34 minutes of the game. Going into the contest, the team had the opportunity to climb back into the NCAA Tournament conversation with a win. Those hopes take a big hit with the loss, but the Panthers will look to bounce back on Saturday, Feb. 18, when they host No. 17 Florida State at 4 p.m.
Partridge, pg. 8 bright coach who is an excellent teacher and knows how to develop players.” Partridge left Wisconsin for Arkansas in 2013, where he served as assistant head coach with supervision over the defensive line. He then took over as head coach at Florida Atlantic University where he coached the Owls to three straight 3-9 seasons from 2014-2016. Due to these poor records, FAU fired Partridge in late November and replaced him with former Alabama Crimson Tide offensive coordinator Lane Kiffin. “I am honored to have the opportunity to return to Pitt and work with Coach Narduzzi and his staff,” Partridge said in the release. “I’m fully aware that the University of Pittsburgh is a special institution in an amazing city with a top-notch football program that competes at the highest level in the ACC.” His first game back on the sidelines for Pitt will come on Sept. 2 as the Panthers host the Youngstown State Penguins at Heinz Field.
The Pitt news crossword 2/15/17
make it easy on you. You have to go take it.” Off a fastbreak started by a Chris Jones turnover, Hill broke through the Panthers defense, forcing senior forward Michael Young to intentionally foul him from behind. Hill made the shot and his two free throws, then the Hokies received possession of the ball on Pitt’s baseline because of the intentional foul. Guard Justin Bibbs promptly hit a 3-pointer off the inbound, giving Tech its first lead of the game. “The seven-point play really hurt us,” Johnson said. “They went from being down six to up one real quick. I feel like we put it back together, but unfortunately, we didn’t do enough.” Pitt came right back, scoring five straight points to retake the lead, 57-53. But the Hokies responded with six consecutive points of their own to go back up by two with 4:25 to play. The Panthers again retook the lead on a layup by Young with 3:19 to go. A minute later, Pitt forward Sheldon Jeter got fouled, sending him to the free-throw line for a
one-and-one opportunity. Jeter couldn’t convert, but the Panthers grabbed the rebound and drew another foul as the shot clock wound down. This time, Jeter hit both shots, giving Pitt a 6359 lead with 1:53 to go. The Hokies made a pair of free throws on their next possession, and following a Panther turnover, Tech took a 64-63 lead on a 3-pointer from guard Seth Allen with 1:08 left in the game. Young missed a 3-point attempt on Pitt’s next possession, and Robinson made two free throws for the Hokies to put Tech up three with 29 seconds left. With the ball on the last possession, the Panthers looked for a three to send the game into overtime. Johnson found himself open in the corner, but his shot missed the mark. Young was able to corral the rebound and pass it out to Artis for another threepoint shot, but again, the ball clanged away. Jeter got the rebound and dribbled out to the 3-point line for the Panthers’ third try, but his shot missed as time expired. In front of a deflated crowd, the Hokies’ bench ran onto the court to celebrate their improbable win. As the fans quietly filed out, the scoreboard read: Virginia Tech 66,
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