Villanova Holds off Pittsburgh, 79-68 :: Men's basketball improves to 7-6 in conference play.

Feb. 10, 1998

PHILADELPHIA (AP) - Howard Brown scored 17 points and grabbed eight rebounds to lead Villanova past Pittsburgh 79-68 Tuesday night.

Villanova (10-12, 7-6 Big East) led 49-23 at halftime.

But Pittsburgh (8-12, 3-9) went on a 21-8 run to trail 57-42 with 12:59 remaining, then mounted a 17-8 run to close to within seven points, 66-59, with 4:22 to play.

Villanova then closed the game with free throws, with nine of their last 13 points from the line.

For Pittsburgh, Jarrett Lockhart scored 18 points, including four 3-pointers. Ricardo Greer added 15 points, Attila Crosby 13, Isaac Hawkins 12 and Vonteego Cummings 10. Hawkins added 11 rebounds.

Villanova also received 14 points from T.J. Caouette and 10 from Malik Allen.

Villanova shot 28 percent from the floor in the second half, but made up for it with 12-of-16 shooting from the foul line in the second half. Pittsburgh shot 37 percent from the floor in the first half, then bounced back with 55 percent shooting in the second.