Pitt put together one of its more complete performances, or at least more complete 25-minute stretches, of the season with a 94-75 victory Wednesday against Omaha at the Petersen Events Center, tying the Panthers' largest margin of victory in a game this season.
A quick, digestible recap of how it all went down with this edition of Meyer After Dark:
Turning point: Pitt was trailing, 31-28, with 3:50 remaining in the first half when it went on a 16-2 run to go into the locker room with a comfortable 46-33 lead. The Panthers scored on each of their final eight possessions of the half, with five different players scoring in that spurt (Mike Young and Ryan Luther each had five). In the second half, the Mavericks would get no closer than 10.
Game ball: Young. It certainly didn't appear that way at first, as he had four turnovers in the first 16 minutes, the last of which led to a basket on the other end and caused a portion of the home crowd to boo the ACC's leading scorer. That, however, would be his final turnover of the night. In addition to his team-high 24 points, Young also led the team in rebounds (11, giving him his third double-double of the season) and a season-high six assists.
Notable stat: 15, the number of consecutive field goals Luther made from the end of the Penn State game through Wednesday night. That mark sets a school record, which, if you had Ryan Luther being the one to accomplish it, congrats. The junior forward has gone 15 of 18 the past three games and has emerged, at least lately, as a pretty effective fourth scoring option behind Young, Jamel Artis and Cam Johnson.
Also notable were Omaha's 73 offensive possessions, which tied a season low. Pitt did a nice job of not allowing the Mavericks to operate at the frenetic pace to which they are accustomed.
What it means: In some ways, it was the kind of non-descript non-conference game that I'm ready to be done with, but there were a couple of important things I took away from it.
The first, and probably most important, was that Pitt actually put away a lesser team once it built a solid lead. I've detailed some of the Panthers' shortcomings in doing that in previous stories, so I'll spare you all from specifics. This time around, they built a double-digit lead at halftime and largely held on to it. That lead never dipped below double digits and, because of that, we got a healthy dose of Rozelle Nix, who is an absolute joy to watch and a gift to human eyes, in the second half. Kevin Stallings didn't seem too satisfied with his team's consistency or complete performance, but that assessment has more to do with its poor start. Because as bad as that start was, the finish was equally impressive.
I'd also be remiss if I didn't mention Justice Kitchart's night. The freshman point guard had season highs in both points (five) and assists (four) in 21 minutes while also helping ignite Pitt's first-half run with his defensive pressure that, in one case, led to a steal and fast-break layup. Heading into the Omaha game, Kithcart's overall impact was limited because of his ghastly shooting numbers (seven of 24 from the field on the season), but if Wednesday night is any indication, he may be getting increasingly comfortable with the college game. For all of the shooting struggles, which likely aren't indicative of his true ability, he's an incredibly intriguing young player with a lot of speed, agility and defensive intensity that, at the very worst, could give Pitt some added depth.
What's next: Pitt has six days off for the holidays before taking on Marshall Dec. 28 in its final non-conference game. The Thundering Herd -- who are coached by Mike D'Antoni's brother, Dan -- are 7-4 heading into its game tomorrow against Cincinnati. Pitt, according to KenPom, is an 85 percent favorite to win, with a projected final score of 90-79.
Notable quotables: "They were shooting the passing lanes very well. We were careless in the first half, a little lackadaisical. We didn't know they were going to play aggressive defense like that. We switched it up in the second half and tried to penetrate and make the right plays." - Jamel Artis on the team's early turnovers
"He was a big spark. I think he gave them a little bit of a taste of their own medicine, with the pressure and getting into gaps. He was really trying to be a pest on defense. He was a big spark for us." - Mike Young on Justice Kithcart's role in Pitt's first-half run
"When we made the run, nobody really panicked. We knew we were careless with the ball and we gave them some easy opportunities. We were sending them too the foul line too much. We just kind of settled down, trusted our offense and people did a good job of not panicking or going crazy just because we were down a bucket or two." - Ryan Luther on how Pitt turned things around in the first half
"You've really got to like their team. They're big across the board, they're 6-6 to 6-9 one through five. We handled it a little bit early, but we all saw the last three-and-a-half or four minutes of the first half. We turned one over, we spit one up and we didn't make a free throw or two. That's what really made their run. I think it was 31-31 and the next thing I know, it's 46-33." - Omaha coach Derrin Hansen on Pitt
"In terms of a complete performance, it was okay. We've still got a ways to go. We still need to get better. I'm proud of these guys. They're buying what we're selling. We're just not as good sometimes as we want to be." - Kevin Stallings on Pitt's night
"There are times when a timeout is necessary and there will be times where I'll call timeout, but honestly, if I have to call timeout tonight to get something corrected, we've got bigger issues than me needing to call timeout. Some things they have to figure out for themselves. Instead of calling timeouts, I've started using that bench over there to send my message. Then, all of a sudden, the energy got better. Fortunately, guys came in off the bench and did what they needed to do to keep us where we needed to be." - Stallings on his timeout philosophy
Craig Meyer: cmeyer@post-gazette.com and Twitter @CraigMeyerPG
First Published: December 22, 2016, 5:43 a.m.
