Pitt had trouble getting going in the first half Friday night, with William & Mary surprising the Panthers in leading by four at the half.
Then Pitt woke up and went on to crush the visitors, 80-64, at Petersen Events Center for its third straight win.
William & Mary had a 26-19 lead with 7 1/2 minutes to go in the first half. The Panthers fought back to pull ahead, 33-31, before the Tribe scored the final six points for a 37-33 halftime edge.
It didn't take long for the Panthers to right the ship in the second half, as they used an 11-1 run to surge ahead and take control of the game. Pitt trailed 45-43 before the run turned the game around, as it grabbed a 54-46 lead with 13:51 to go.
The Panthers poured it on throughout the middle of the second half and led by as many as 21 points.
“Good win by us, proud of our effort," Jeff Capel told reporters after the game, per Pitt's release. "I think we beat a good basketball team, a team that was very confident -- they won two games in a row. And we're playing really well.
"They got off to a fantastic start in the first half. For whatever reason, we have to figure out how to be better to start games and how to be better in the first half, but our guys showed resiliency. In the second half, we were obviously much better defensively. We were able to string together some stops, thought our ball pressure was a little bit better. Ball screen coverage was better, our rotations were better. That allowed us to get out in transition. We were able to establish John inside in the second half and he scored and made some great passes. But I just thought that it was a much better effort in the second half for us.
Blake Hinson led Pitt with 17 points and 11 rebounds. John Hugley IV and Jamarius Burton each had 16 points. Nike Sibande chipped in 15 points and nine rebounds off the bench.
A big difference in the game came from the 3-point line, where Pitt hit 11 treys to only five for William & Mary (3-4), which shot just 26 percent from 3.
"I think more energy and more concentration," Hinson said of the difference in the second half. "Me personally, I had two mistakes in the first half and it just simply came from less focus and less talk and then using the second half as a team, as a unit, we picked it up. If we just learn how to do that in the first half, I think we'll be just fine."
Pitt improved to 4-3 overall and 4-1 at home. The Panthers' next game will be at Northwestern on Wednesday in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge. Tipoff is 9 p.m., and the game will be televised on ESPN2.
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