Pitt's defense stood the test against the worst offensive team in the Big East. Now the Panthers get to find out how it stands up to the best offense in the league.

Pitt beat DePaul, 65-52, last night at the Petersen Events Center in the conference opener for both teams. Pitt's defense, which ranks sixth nationally and held three of its previous five opponents to fewer than 50 points, had another impressive showing as the Panthers held the Blue Demons to 34.5 percent shooting.

"Everyone is taking it personal on stopping somebody," senior guard Jermaine Dixon said. "That's what we need as a defensive team. People don't think we can score. Everybody is doubting us so we're going to show people we can play defense, too. That's what we stressed coming in and that's what we plan on doing."

Pitt (11-2, 1-0) will get its biggest test of the season Saturday. The opponent is No. 5 Syracuse, which is averaging almost 90 points per game.

It was the fourth consecutive game that Pitt has held its opponent to less than 40 percent shooting and the third in a row at under 35 percent.

"We're making people miss shots," coach Jamie Dixon said. "Our field-goal percentage defense is good. I told our guys we can be a very good defensive team. We've done some very good things, but there are improvements to be made."

Ashton Gibbs led the Panthers with 23 points in perhaps his best overall game of the season. Gibbs was 7 for 11 from the field, 3 for 4 from 3-point range and 6 for 6 from the free-throw line. He also grabbed a career-high seven rebounds and had four assists in 35 minutes.

"It looks like Ashton Gibbs is the next really good guard to come out of this building," De-Paul coach Jerry Wainwright said. "He's a terrific shooter. He takes advantage of every opening. Every time we left a guy or made a mistake they made us pay. Obviously, he was the key to the game. He seemed to make every big shot."

Pitt didn't miss many shots in the first half. The Panthers were 17 for 30 from the field (56.7 percent) and opened up a 39-25 lead at halftime. The offense became stagnant in the second half and allowed DePaul to creep back into the game.

The Blue Demons (7-6, 0-1) cut the lead to five points with 5:41 remaining, but the Panthers scored 11 of the final 14 points of the game to seal the victory.

Pitt was only 8 for 24 from the field in the second half. Gibbs scored half of the team's 26 second-half points. Two starters -- Brad Wanamaker and Nasir Robinson -- did not score after halftime.

"I thought we did some things real well," Jamie Dixon said. "We weren't able to do it for 40 minutes. We defended well for a while. I thought our offense was very good for a while, but we didn't sustain that. We have to learn from that."

DePaul might have generated more offense if Will Walker, the team's leading scorer, did not have the flu. Walker, who came into the game averaging 16.5 points per game, scored 11 points in 29 minutes off the bench.

It also did not help matters that center Mac Koshwal, who was averaging 15.3 points and 13 rebounds per game, was playing in his second game after missing eight with a foot injury. Koshwal picked up two early fouls and could only manage 11 points and six rebounds.

Pitt won its conference opener for the second year in a row, which is good because the Panthers are about to embark on their most challenging stretch of the season. Three of the next five opponents are ranked, starting with Syracuse.

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NOTES -- Gibbs has made 33 consecutive free throws and needs two more to break the school record held by three other players. ... It was Pitt's 30th consecutive victory at the Petersen Events Center. The Panthers have the nation's second-longest home winning streak behind Kansas. ... Wanamaker was Pitt's leading rebounder for the second consecutive game. He had nine last night. ... Pitt outrebounded DePaul, 40-33. ... The Panthers were 9 for 16 from the free-throw line.

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