Pitt coach Jamie Dixon opened up all starting positions at the beginning of the week and told his players that the five best defenders would start the game yesterday against Mount Saint Mary's. That message got through loud and clear.

When the Panthers took the floor yesterday they had defense first and foremost in their minds and stymied the Mountaineers for a 66-48 victory at the Petersen Events Center.

Pitt (9-2) held Mount Saint Mary's (3-7) to 31.6-percent shooting, dominated the boards and never allowed the Mountaineers to get close enough to threaten in yet another low-scoring affair.

"I think we came out and played a really good defensive game," junior center Gary McGhee said. "We got some key stops. We defended the ball well when they tried to drive it, and we did a good job on the glass. We did a good job from the beginning of the week until now."

Dixon made one change to the starting lineup. He inserted senior Jermaine Dixon in as the shooting guard and moved sophomore Ashton Gibbs from shooting guard to point guard. The coach said afterward that the move was made for defensive purposes.

Jermaine Dixon missed the first eight games of the season and came off the bench in the previous two. Yesterday he played a season-high 19 minutes and appears to be getting closer to the player he was last season when he started all 36 games for the Panthers.

The defensive mentality paid immediate dividends. Mount Saint Mary's could manage only 18 points in the first half. The Mountaineers missed 17 of their first 20 shots from the field and fell behind by 12 at halftime (30-18).

"We always want to carry things over from practice to games," junior guard Brad Wanamaker said. "We've been working on defense and shutting teams down. [Yesterday] was one of our best defensive games."

It was the ninth time in 11 games that the Panthers have held their opponent to 60 points or fewer. Yesterday marked the third time an opponent scored fewer than 50 points, but Jamie Dixon isn't letting his players rest on their laurels.

"The defense is better, but it's still not where we need it to be," he said. "It could be that we're playing guys too many minutes. We're playing guys more minutes than we ever have."

With the victory, Pitt extended its home winning streak to 28 games, which is the second-longest streak in Division I. Only Kansas, which has won 48 in a row at home, has more.

Once again, it was Wanamaker and Gibbs leading the way on offense. Wanamaker scored a career-high 20 points and Gibbs added 19. It was the fourth time this season that the duo combined for more than half of the team's points.

Wanamaker was 7 for 11 from the field and 6 for 6 from the free-throw line. In the past four games, Wanamaker is shooting 59 percent from the field (25 for 42) and is averaging 18.7 points per game.

"Brad played really well," Jamie Dixon said. "He's been playing very well. He's just a little more patient offensively and letting things come to him, which I think is why he's playing better."

Gibbs showed no ill effects playing point guard for the first time this season. He played about half of his 32 minutes at the point and the other half at shooting guard when Travon Woodall, the starting point guard in the first 10 games, entered the contest. .

Gibbs was 7 for 16 from the field and 2 for 4 from 3-point range with 2 assists and 2 turnovers. He scored most of his points at shooting guard when Woodall was in the game.

"Coach Dixon gave me a lot of reps [at point guard] in practice this week," Gibbs said.

"I was just trying to get used to it. It was my first game situation being the point guard this year. I'm just going to live with it for now."

In 23 minutes off the bench, Woodall had 5 points, 5 assists and 1 turnover.

NOTES -- Pitt improved to 67-0 all time against opponents from the Northeast Conference. ... The Panthers extended their school-record winning streak against non-conference opponents at home to 45 games.

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