PITTSBURGH — Marquise Reed scored 14 points, Elijah Thomas added 12 points and eight rebounds and Clemson rode a hot start to a 62-48 victory over Pittsburgh on Wednesday night.

The Tigers (17-11, 7-8 Atlantic Coast Conference) made their first five 3-pointers and led by as much as 22 then clamped down late after the Panthers drew within 10. Clemson held Pitt to just 27 percent (12 of 44) shooting to beat the Panthers for the sixth straight time.

Xavier Johnson led Pitt (12-16, 2-13) with 14 points but the freshman guard also committed eight of his team’s 13 turnovers. Terrell Brown scored 11 points for Pitt but the Panthers never led while dropping their 11th consecutive game.

The Tigers are trying to work their way to the right side of the bubble in search for their second straight NCAA Tournament appearance. A misstep against the Panthers would have cost them dearly. Instead, they produced a near carbon-copy of their easy 13-point win over Pitt a month ago.

Clemson needed less than two minutes to build a 10-point lead. Shelton Mitchell hit a 3-pointer on the Tigers’ first trip down the court. Reed added another on Clemson’s second. The Tigers hit their first five 3-point attempts in all.