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Rosemont, Ill. • J.J. Moore scored 21 points off the bench and No. 20 Pittsburgh shot a school-record 72 percent to beat DePaul 81-66 on Saturday in the Panthers' last Big East regular-season game.
The next stop for surging Pittsburgh is its final Big East tournament, which begins Tuesday at Madison Square Garden in New York. The Panthers (24-7, 12-6), who will move into the Atlantic Coast Conference next season, have won 11 of their last 14 games and six of eight on the road.
Moore, a junior forward, hit a career-best five 3-pointers while many of his teammates got to the rim at will against DePaul (11-20, 2-16). Twenty-two of Pittsburgh's 46 first-half points came on either a dunk or layup.
Despite the Blue Demons shooting 50 percent from the field in the first half, Pittsburgh led by 11 points at halftime thanks to its own sharp shooting. The Panthers hit 19 of 25 shots (76 percent) for the fourth-best shooting percentage in a half in school history. Moore, who tied his career high for points, went 8 for 8 from the field.
DePaul had four players in double figures, led by Brandon Young's 22 points. With his two 3s, the junior guard became the first DePaul player with at least 1,200 points, 400 assists and 100 3-pointers.
Senior guard Worrel Clahar tied his career high with 19 points. —