Panthers and Aztecs square off in Maui Invitational semifinals

Nov 25, 2014 - 5:05 PM Maui, HI (SportsNetwork.com) - The Pittsburgh Panthers and the 15th-ranked San Diego State Aztecs square off in the semifinals of the Maui Invitational on Tuesday night at the Lahaina Civic Center.

Awaiting the winner in the championship game on Wednesday will be either Arizona or Kansas State. The losers will play in the third-place game.

Pitt suffered its first loss of the season at Hawaii on Friday, 74-70, but it bounced back on Monday in this tournament with a 81-68 triumph over Chaminade to advance. The Panthers are now 3-1 on the campaign after beating Niagara (78-45) and Samford (63-56) at home during the first week of the season.

SDSU suffered a scare in its first-round contest with BYU, but after battling through two overtime periods it eventually came away with a 92-87 victory. The Aztecs have moved to 4-0 for the first time since the 2010-11 season.

This marks the first-ever meeting between the squads on the hardwood.

Although they trailed midway through the first half, the Panthers used a 17-6 run late in the opening stanza to pull away, and their advantage never dipped below nine in over the final 20 minutes. They were outshot from the field by Chaminade, 51 percent to 46 percent, but their commanding rebounding advantage (51-17) allowed them to attempt 14 more field goal than their opponent. Michael Young was outstanding in the paint with 27 points (on 11-of-17 from the field) and 15 rebounds. Derrick Randall was also active on the glass with 21 rebounds to go with 11 points. James Robinson (17 points, five assists) and Josh Newkirk (10 points, eight rebounds) rounded out the balanced effort.

On the season, Pittsburgh shoots 48 percent from the field for 73.0 ppg while allowing only 60.8 ppg on 40.1 percent shooting on the other end of the court. Young (16.8 ppg, 9.0 rpg) is off to a hot start from the floor at 67.5 percent. Robinson (11.3 ppg, 6.5 apg) is the only other player in double figures, but seven other put up at least 3.5 ppg.

SDSU led for most of regulation, including by three with under two minutes to play when a BYU 3-pointer forced overtime. It was SDSU's turn for the theatrics in the first overtime, as it went on a 5-0 run in the final 1:13 to tie the score yet again, and in the second extra session it finally took control for the win. It outshot BYU from the floor, 48.5 percent to 38.5 percent, but it nearly cost itself with a game-high 16 turnovers. Aqeel Quinn provided a spark off the bench with 22 points on 6-of-15 from 3-point range. Winston Shepard tallied 18 points and eight rebounds, J.J. O'Brien logged 13 points, nine boards and six assists and Trey Kell chipped in with 13 points.

The prolonged high-scoring affair was a departure for what the Aztecs typically do, as they came into the event scoring just 61.0 ppg on 35.8 percent field goal shooting while playing lock-down defense (44.7 ppg). Quinn (11.7 ppg) catapulted to the team's top scorer after Monday's effort, although Shepard (11.0 ppg) is right on his heels. O'Brien has been solid all around with 10.8 ppg, 7.7 rpg and 3.3 apg.