Men’s Basketball: Pitt looks to keep momentum against Hoyas

The Pitt men’s basketball team still has a long way to go.

The Panthers picked up their fist… The Pitt men’s basketball team still has a long way to go.

The Panthers picked up their fist Big East win on Wednesday, but it won’t be easy for Pitt to counter an eight-game losing skid by starting a win streak. Pitt will face a significantly more challenging task against No. 10 Georgetown tomorrow than it did in its win over Providence.

Pitt (12-9, 1-7 Big East) must see this game — and every game after it — as a must-win situation. The Panthers finally ended their losing streak and have the chance to turn the end of their season around, but that can’t happen unless they pull out a victory over the Hoyas (16-3, 6-2 Big East)

After the Providence game, Pitt forward Nasir Robinson said the Panthers have more winning to do. To pick up a second win in the Big East, Pitt will have to get by the Hoyas and their big three: Jason Clark, Hollis Thompson and Henry Sims.

Clark — a high-scoring guard — figures to give Pitt trouble. Clark averages 15.9 points per game and recently exploded for 31 points against DePaul on Jan. 17.

Pitt has given up high-scoring totals to many guards this season. Most recently, Providence’s Vincent Council nearly posted a triple-double with 26 points, 10 rebounds and nine assists. But Council didn’t have much help outside of his own scoring.

That’s not the case for the Hoyas.

Thompson averages 14 points per game. Although he scored just four points on Jan. 21 against Rutgers, he shoots 50.3 percent from the 3-point line and has posted multiple 20-plus point games this season.

Pitt Panther Lamar Patterson will most likely draw the assignment of the junior small forward Thompson, while Travon Woodall will need to stay on his toes to defend Clark.

Underneath, Pitt will need to find a way to counter Georgetown’s center, Sims. The 6-foot-10, 242-pound senior averages 11.8 points and 5.5 rebounds per game. The Panthers have struggled inside this season, both offensively and defensively.

Coming off a double-double against Rutgers, Sims will look to assert himself against a smaller Pitt frontline. Dixon will likely rotate Talib Zanna and Dante Taylor on Sims defensively.

Several factors will be in Pitt’s favor tomorrow, starting with the momentum that comes from a long-awaited first Big East win.

While Providence is hardly a Big East powerhouse and is currently tied with Pitt for last in the Big East standings, anything other than a zero in the Big East win column looks good to Pitt fans.

More importantly, during the game against Providence, the Panthers actually looked the way a Pitt basketball team is expected to look.

Although the Friars scored 74 points against Pitt, the Panthers’ offensive execution might have been the best fans have seen all year.

Pitt also has its backcourt intact for the first time since the end of November. Starting point guard Woodall — in his second game back since suffering an abdominal injury — finally looked healthy and made a noticeable impact.

The offense ran smoothly, and Woodall removed pressure from Gibbs, which allowed the Preseason Big East Player of the Year to shine. Woodall finished the game as Pitt’s second-leading scorer with 17 points and also dished out nine assists.

“It’s amazing [Woodall’s] back and playing to this level so quickly,” Pitt head coach Jamie Dixon said after the win over Providence. “Eight weeks is eight weeks, but he was tremendous, and I thought his play spread. Hopefully it will continue to spread when we get back to work tomorrow.”

Gibbs finally finished defrosting and scored a team-high 22 points, making five 3-pointers in the game and shooting 8-17 from the field overall. His 47.1 shooting percentage marks his highest percentage since he went 4-8 on Dec.10 against Oklahoma St.

“There is definitely more space. [Woodall] is an extra playmaker,” Gibbs said. “At the same time he is a scoring option, too, so the defense has to respect him. It opens up opportunities for me. It’s great to have him back. The best is yet to come from him and his team.”

Home-court advantage could also factor into the game’s outcome. Despite some inexcusable losses at home, such as Wagner and Long Beach State, Pitt should still gain an advantage from playing at the Petersen Events Center this weekend instead of needing to travel.

Students get up for big games. Before this season, the Petersen Events Center used to be known as the place where top-10 teams come to die. Maybe Pitt can salvage some of that reputation.

“We have to hold our heads high now, but we have to move on,” Gibbs said. “We have to prepare for practice tomorrow to get ready for Georgetown Saturday and carry everything over.”