Pitt Basketball: Guard shines in easy victory Guards spark win
-
Tray Woodall goes up for a layup against Albany in the second half Friday. -
Pitt's Lamar Patterson looks to pass in traffic in the second half against Albany.
Share with others:
One of the burning questions before the season was whether 10th-ranked Pitt would have a stable backcourt after the graduation of dependable two-year starter Brad Wanamaker.
Sure, Ashton Gibbs was back for another season, but what about that fourth-year player who could never nailed down a starting job until now?
Well, Tray Woodall, the redshirt junior point guard, put a lot of those questions to rest in an 89-56 victory against Albany in the season opener Friday at the Petersen Events Center.
Woodall had a double-double, scoring a career-high 25 points and dishing out 10 assists. Woodall also set a career high with five 3-pointers.
"It felt good out there," Woodall said. "I've been working on my shot. When teams are keying on Ashton, I'm going to have to knock down shots."
Albany coach Will Brown's game plan was to let anyone but Gibbs to take outside shots. Brown did not want Gibbs, Pitt's leading scorer the past two seasons, to beat his Great Danes. He was willing to take a chance on Woodall, a career 26 percent 3-point shooter.
"Halfway through the game I thought Gibbs was wearing No. 1 the way Woodall shot the ball," Brown said, noting Woodall's jersey number. "I saw Woodall play a lot in high school. The one thing he wasn't was a consistent outside shooter. He deserves a lot of credit. The 10 assists from Woodall didn't surprise us. The 25 points and the five 3s does surprise us."
Woodall's previous career high was 19 in a game against Wichita State in 2009. He had never made more than five field goals in a game, and his career high in 3-pointers was two. He was 9 for 13 from the field and 5 for 7 from 3-point range.
"He took 13 shots, and they were all good shots," Pitt coach Jamie Dixon said. "He had patience and let things come to him."
First Published November 12, 2011 12:29 am
