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Ashton Gibbs did not have his best game yesterday against Youngstown State. Statistically speaking, it might have been one of his worst.
The sophomore shooting guard, known for his shot-making abilities, misfired on nine of his 13 shot attempts and did not look particularly good in doing so. But with his team in a surprisingly close contest midway though the second half, Gibbs did what but he does best: he kept shooting.
And finally, those shots began to fall.
Gibbs only made three of his four shots and scored eight of his 14 points in a span of a little more than two minutes to break open a tie game and spark the Panthers to a 72-56 victory against Youngstown State at the Petersen Events Center.
Gibbs broke a 42-42 tie by making a jumper with 11:51 remaining. After a Gary McGhee putback off an offensive rebound, Gibbs made back-to-back 3-pointers 49 seconds apart for a 52-42 lead with 9:29 remaining.
PDFAnd just like that, a possible upset turned into a runaway victory.
"I was just taking advantage of what the defense gave me," said Gibbs, who has now led Pitt in scoring in three of the first six games.
"My teammates did a great job of finding me. That's what I try to do. That's what coach [Jamie] Dixon is looking for. If I get an open shot, I'm going to do my best to knock it down."
Gibbs' 3-pointers were a sight for sore eyes because the Panthers were having a hard time solving Youngstown State's 2-3 zone until that point. The trapping zone forced 17 turnovers and had the Panthers desperately searching for answers well into the second half.
"They were switching things up on us on defense," said junior guard Brad Wanamaker, who also scored 14 points.
"We made some adjustments. As we adjusted, we started to execute better and play more unselfish."
In the final 12 minutes, Pitt outscored Youngstown State, 30-14. The Panthers made 9 of their final 17 shots from the field. Youngstown State self-destructed, missing 10 of its final 14 shots and three of its final eight free-throw attempts while turning the ball over five times in those final 12 minutes.
"I thought we played good for 30 minutes," Youngstown State coach Jerry Slocum said.
"The last 10 minutes we missed a bunch of fouls shots and easy shots we had around our basket. Then, they imposed their will on the glass and did a great job offensive rebounding in the last 10 minutes. That was your difference I the game."
Pitt held a 38-22 advantage on the boards. The starting frontline of junior center Gary McGhee and sophomore forward Nasir Robinson both registered double-doubles. McGhee posted a double-double for the second consecutive game with 12 points and 10 rebounds. Robinson recorded his first career double-double with 10 points and 10 boards.
"The last few games coach Dixon has been telling us we have to outrebound teams," McGhee said.
"Today, we were aggressive on offensive and defensive glass. That's one of the key things we need to help us win games, and that's what we did today."
The Panthers had 10 offensive rebounds, which led to 14 points. It was the fifth time in six games they have managed double-digit offensive rebounds.
"We've really been emphasizing rebounds the last couple of weeks, and we've improved in that area," Dixon said.
"Today was a good example of that. I was encouraged by that. That's a good sign for us. We're heading in the right direction in that area."
Things were not headed in the right direction at halftime yesterday. Pitt committed 10 turnovers in the first 20 minutes and watched an 11-point lead evaporate to six points at the intermission.
The first eight minutes of the second half were going Youngstown State's way. The Penguins tied the score at 42-42 after a 9-2 run. But, after that burst, Pitt began to pull away thanks to some adjustments in attacking the zone.
"We got better at attacking the zone," Dixon said. "We made a little adjustment. We kept our guards more stationary. We tried to get our big guys more active.
"We got better shots as the game went on, especially in the second half. We didn't do a very good job in the first half. It was good to see we could make an adjustment and play through that.
NOTES -- Reserve center Dante Taylor was 2 for 2 from the field and 5 for 5 from the foul line and finished with nine points and two rebounds. ... Robinson had five more turnovers, raising his total to 15 in the past four games ... Kelvin Bright led Youngstown State with 20 points.
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