- Hinson scored 24 points on perfect 7-of-7 shooting from 3-point range
- He later jumped onto the scorer’s table, sparking outrage among Duke students
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Pitt guard Blake Hinson went viral Saturday night by taunting the Cameron Crazies after his lights-out shooting performance in an 80-76 upset of No. 7 Duke.
Hinson scored 24 points on perfect 7-of-7 shooting from 3-point range as Pittsburgh won for the first time since 1979 at Cameron Indoor Stadium.
Overall, Hinson shot 8 of 10 from the floor and collected a team-high eight rebounds as the Panthers (11-7, 2-5 Atlantic Coast Conference) snapped a four-game losing streak against the Blue Devils. Pitt also got 16 points and six assists from Jaland Lowe and 11 points from Ishmael Leggett.
But it was Hinson’s decision to jump on the scoreboard to taunt Blue Devils fans that most will remember from the game. Hinson not only drew cheers from the crowd, but several irate Duke students were also seen pushing away the Panthers star.
“Good morning,” John Hollinger of The Athletic wrote on Twitter as he reposted the clip. “Today we are all Blake Hinson.”
Pitt guard Blake Hinson went viral on Saturday night by mocking the Cameron Crazies
Distraught Cameron Crazies look up to Blake Hinson after the Pitt star easily outwitted Duke
“Our guys had poise, they had strength, we were together, and the guys stepped up and made some big plays,” said Pitt coach Jeff Capel, himself a former Duke player. ‘We have got off to an excellent start. We were not afraid of the moment. We were not afraid of the environment. I’m really proud of our guys for finding a way to win.”
“I didn’t like our start to begin with. That’s something we need to address,” Duke coach Jon Scheyer said. “By the way, I would also like to apologize to our fans.”
In a loss that ended its eight-game win streak, Duke (13-4, 4-2) was powered by Jared McCain’s 20 points. Kyle Filipowski scored 19 points and Caleb Foster had 16 points, six rebounds and five assists.
Pitt’s Blake Hinson scored 24 points on perfect 7-for-7 shooting from 3-point range
Started by a two-handed dunk from Federiko Federiko, Pitt jumped out to a 21-10 lead. Duke fought back, but it seemed like every time the Blue Devils took the lead, Hinson was there to answer. After the Blue Devils took a one-point lead on a Filipowski layup and free throw with 6:35 to play, Hinson responded with his seventh 3-pointer of the game.
When Duke cut the deficit to one point with 1:10 to play, Lowe made a pull-up 3-pointer with Filipowski’s hand in his face. Free throws by Lowe and Hinson with less than 10 seconds to play put the game out of reach. After the buzzer sounded, Hinson jumped onto the press table to taunt the Cameron Crazies.
“This is one of the toughest places to win in the country,” Hinson said. “So that was just an example of you climbing Mount Everest and looking at it from above and saying, ‘I did it.’ … It’s nothing but respect.”
It was Capel’s first win as an opposing coach at Duke, where he played under Mike Krzyzewski from 1993 to 1997.