Pitt Basketball: Panthers improve to 9-0; Match largest margin of victory for season
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Sam Young looks for an open teammate last night in Pitt's victory at the Petersen Events Center. He seems to be getting some help against Vermont defender Maurice Joseph.
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One of these days the Pitt Panthers will find themselves in a competitive basketball game. The kind of game that comes down to one crucial possession and tests the mettle of a team.
But one of those days doesn't seem to be coming anytime soon. The Panthers demolished another non-conference opponent last night, whipping the University of Vermont, 80-51, at the Petersen Events Center.
It was the ninth consecutive victory to start the season for the third-ranked Panthers and all nine games have been decided by double digits. The 29-point victory last night equaled the largest margin of victory for the season and boosted the average margin of victory to 21.5 points per game.
It was a familiar formula for Pitt. The Panthers rode the hot scoring hand of senior forward Sam Young, received the standard double-double from sophomore center DeJuan Blair and frustrated their opponent with smothering defense.
Young scored 28 points for his fourth 20-point game in the past five contests. Blair had 13 points and 16 rebounds for his sixth double-double.
But perhaps the most impressive part of this victory was the defense. Vermont entered the game averaging 78.7 points per game and its two losses had come in overtime to Maryland and George Mason.
It was a completely different story against the Panthers. The Catamounts never did get anything going offensively against Pitt and had by far their worst performance of the season.
"Before the game coach said we've been playing good teams and decent teams, we're about to start playing great teams," Young said. "It's time to test to see where our defense is really at. We came out [last night] and tried to pressure them crazy."
Pitt forced Vermont into a miserable shooting performance. The Catamounts were 17 for 62 (27.4 percent) from the field. They also turned the ball over 17 times.
"You shouldn't turn the ball over that much against a team that doesn't press," Vermont coach Mike Lonegran said. "But we were just throwing the ball away from the beginning of the game and the score just got out of hand quickly."
Reversing a trend that had developed in the previous three games, the Panthers eschewed the slow start and jumped on the Catamounts early and often. The Panthers scored the first 13 points, led, 41-19, at halftime and were never threatened.
"We really came out and defended," Pitt coach Jamie Dixon said. "We really challenged our guys to have our best defensive performance against this team. I thought they really did come out and do that. We did it with our defense."
Marqus Blakely, Vermont's top scorer, had 19 points, but he only had three in the first half when the Panthers raced to the big, early lead. Blakely was 5 for 14 from the field and earned most of his points at the free-throw line when the game was out of reach.
"We made sure that he was going to work for everything he got," Young said.
Offensively, it was another so-so performance for the Panthers, who shot 29 for 74 (39.2 percent) from the field. They once again lived off their offensive rebounding prowess.
The Panthers had 59 rebounds in the game, 24 on offense that led to 25 second-chance points. Blair had seven offensive rebounds and Young and Tyrell Biggs had four apiece.
"It was a disappointing effort by us," Lonegran said. "We did not match their physicality and we just really did not compete at all. They manhandled us on the boards at both ends. Twenty-four offensive rebounds are ridiculous. They're definitely one of the top three teams in the country."
NOTES -- Biggs was the only other Pitt player to score in double figures with 10 points. ... Reserve Brad Wanamaker came off the bench to play 25 minutes after Jermaine Dixon picked up two early fouls. Wanamaker finished with 2 points, 4 assists and 4 steals. ... Freshman Ashton Gibbs also picked up some of Dixon's minutes and scored 11 points, including three 3-pointers. ... The Panthers were 14 for 25 from the free-throw line.
First Published December 7, 2008 12:00 am
