Marcquise Reed scored 14 points as Clemson built a big lead early and held off Pittsburgh in the second half for a 62-48 victory Wednesday night at Pitt's Petersen Events Center.

Clemson, which is battling to remain on the NCAA Tournament bubble, improved to 17-11 overall and 7-8 in Atlantic Coast Conference play by defeating Pitt for a sixth consecutive time.

The Panthers (12-16, 2-13), who started ACC play 2-2 this season with wins against Louisville and Florida State, have lost 11 consecutive games in the conference.

Clemson, which has won two in a row, faces No. 5 North Carolina on Saturday at the Tigers' Littlejohn Coliseum before wrapping up the regular season with a game at Notre Dame and home game against Syracuse.

The Tigers are bidding for a second straight NCAA Tournament berth after winning 25 games and advancing to the Sweet 16 last season.

Elijah Thomas scored 12 points -- his fifth consecutive game in double figures -- and filled the stat sheet with eight rebounds, five assists, three blocks and three steals. He matched career-highs in both assists and steals.

Shelton Mitchell added 10 points for the Tigers, who led at halftime, 38-16.

Pitt clawed its way back to pull within 10 points on three separate occasions with between seven and eight minutes remaining. But little-used forward Hunter Tyson, who had made just six 3-pointers this season, made his third of the game to push Clemson's lead back to 13 and the Panthers were never able to get their deficit into single digits down the stretch.

Xavier Johnson led Pitt with 14 points despite eight turnovers while Terrell Brown added 11 for the Panthers, who shot just 27.3 percent from the floor, including 3 of 14 from 3-point range.

Clemson is 43-2 under Coach Brad Brownell when holding opponents to 50 points or less, including 4-0 this season.

--Field Level Media