Nov 25, 2013 2 min read

NEW YORK – Lamar Patterson scored a career-high 23 points and Pitt took command in the first half on the way to a 76-53 victory over Texas Tech Monday night in the semifinals of the Progressive Legends Classic.

The Panthers (5-0), who led 41-18 at halftime, will play the winner of the Stanford-Houston game tonight at Barclays Center.

Cameron Wright added 12 points for Pittsburgh, which boasts a 36-10 record at Madison Square Garden, the arena across the river, since 2000-01 as a member of the Big East Conference. The Panthers are in their first season in the Atlantic Coast Conference.

Jaye Crockett had 19 points for the Red Raiders (4-2), who are playing their first season under coach Tubby Smith.

This was the second straight game Pitt put an opponent away early. The Panthers took off to a 47-23 halftime lead over Lehigh last week on the way to a 77-58 victory.

The Panthers opened the game on a 34-8 run and they were 12-for-26 from the field in the first half, including going 6 of 14 from 3-point range.

Patterson, a senior forward, had 14 points and four assists in the first half, accounting for more points in the opening 20 minutes than the Red Raiders.

Texas Tech shot 25 percent in the first half (6 of 24) and committed 12 turnovers, its average for the first five games of the season. The Red Raiders shot 38.8 percent (19 of 49) for the game and finished with 17 turnovers.

Pittsburgh shot 47 percent (25 of 53) for the game, including 10 of 24 from 3-point range.

The Red Raiders opened the second half on a 7-2 run to get within 43-25 and they got as close as 18 points one other time – 47-29 with 15:43 to play – as they made five of their first six shots from the field with Crockett going 4-for-4

Pitt’s biggest lead was 73-45.

This was the second meeting between the schools and both have been in the semifinals of the Legends Classic. The Panthers beat the Red Raiders 80-47 in 2008 and went on to beat Washington State 57-43 in the championship game.