Pitt defeated Ohio University, 74-49, tonight at the Petersen Events Center.

Sophomore guard Ashton Gibbs led the Panthers with 15 points. Gilbert Brown, playing in his first game this season after serving an academic suspension during the first semester, scored 11 points, going 4 for 4 from the field.

Jermaine Dixon had 14 points and Nasir Robinson had 10.

It was the fourth time this season that Pitt held its opponent to fewer than 50 points in a game.

Pitt jumped out to an 18-3 lead after the first five minutes and never looked back. The Panthers made 7 of their first 10 shots from the field while Ohio opened the game 1 for its first 10.

Ohio coach John Groce had to call a timeout before the first media timeout to halt Pitt's momentum. It worked for a while. The Bobcats clawed back into the game and trimmed the lead to eight points with less than three minutes remaining in the half.

But Pitt finished off the first half the way the started it. The Panthers scored 8 of the final 10 points of the half to take a 38-24 lead into the locker room at halftime. Gibbs scored all 10 of his first-half points in the final 8:06 of the half.

The second half provided little drama. Pitt pushed the lead to 23 points midway through the second half, but did not finish well. They committed 20 turnovers to stain what was an otherwise stellar performance in their final tune-up before Big East Conference play begins next week. The Panthers (10-2) will open Big East play Monday night against DePaul.

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