Zanna steals show in Pitt's Blue-Gold Game
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The top two scorers in the Blue-Gold scrimmage Friday night were Ashton Gibbs and Brad Wanamaker. That should come as no surprise. They were the first- and second-leading scorers last season and are expected to resume those roles this season.
The brow-raising performance came from redshirt freshman power forward Talib Zanna, who scored 15 points and grabbed nine rebounds to help the Blue team beat the Gold team, 66-52, at the Petersen Events Center.
Zanna, 6 feet 9 and 225 pounds, was 7 for 10 from the field and showed a nice touch around the basket.
"Talib is tough," said Gibbs, who scored a game-high 22 points for the Blue team. "I think he's one of our best rebounders. In practice last year he was doing some major things to our starters, so it's not a surprise to us."
Zanna could add some much-needed size to the frontcourt rotation. The Panthers played last season with 6-5 Nasir Robinson and 6-6 Gilbert Brown splitting minutes at power forward. Brown is likely going to be the starting small forward this season, so there is an opportunity for Zanna to earn backup minutes behind Robinson.
"He has a lot to his game," Gibbs said. "He can shoot and rebound. And he's a defensive player, and he's tough, which coach [Jamie] Dixon loves. He's not scared of anyone. He won't back down. He's going to be a great player for us for years to come."
Zanna, a native of Nigeria who came to the United States in 2006, is battling sophomore J.J. Richardson for minutes at power forward. He believes he caught the attention of the coaches with his performance.
"I worked hard for this over the summer, and you're seeing the results now," he said. "I'm ready to go. I'm trying to earn playing time."
Dixon has used only Zanna, Robinson and Richardson at power forward since the team began preparations for the season over the summer. Brown can always move back there in a pinch, but he might not have to do that if Zanna shows he is ready to play major minutes.
Brown missed the scrimmage after injuring his hamstring in practice Thursday. He said that he should be ready to resume practice in two or three days.
Wanamaker led the Gold team with 19 points. Three other players scored in double figures. Redshirt freshman Lamar Patterson had 11 and Gary McGhee and Travon Woodall had 10 apiece.
Freshman Jonathan Moore had nine points, but he was the undisputed fan favorite. Moore, 6-6 and 200 pounds, won the slam dunk contest that took place after the scrimmage.
Moore soared in the air, passed the ball between his legs, and threw down a tomahawk dunk on his first attempt. That drew three perfect 10 scores from the celebrity judges, Steelers LaMarr Woodley, Lawrence Timmons and Jeff Reed.
But his second dunk might have been more impressive. Moore dribbled in from halfcourt and jumped over three students who were standing single-file in the lane. After clearing all three without a problem, he easily threw down a one-handed dunk.
First Published October 23, 2010 12:00 am
