Men’s Basketball: Pitt upsets No. 9 Georgetown

No. 9 Georgetown should have seen it coming.

With a 72-60 victory on Saturday, the Pitt… No. 9 Georgetown should have seen it coming.

With a 72-60 victory on Saturday, the Pitt men’s basketball team improved to 12-0 against top-10 teams at the Petersen Events Center.

“We see the rankings just like everyone else,” Pitt junior guard Travon Woodall said. “We always try to get up for these games and go after teams like they would go after us.”

After losing eight consecutive games, the Panthers (13-9, 2-7 Big East) followed Wednesday’s victory over Providence with a dominating performance against the Hoyas (16-4, 6-3 Big East).

“We came into this game with the mentality that we had to improve, even from the Providence win,” head coach Jamie Dixon said. “Looking at these last two games, that is who we are as a team.”

The Panthers held the lead from the opening possession as sophomore forward Lamar Patterson drained a 3-point basket as the shot clock expired.

Patterson finished with 18 points and was joined by Ashton Gibbs and Nasir Robinson in double-digit scoring figures. Gibbs posted 13 while Robinson led all players with 23.

Dixon said that Patterson has been playing well as of late and is beginning to understand his role on the team.

“Lamar is starting to realize how many minutes he will be playing and what his role will be in those minutes” Dixon said. “He is the perfect indication of a player stepping into a new role and doing what he needs to do: passing, getting the assists and rebounding when needed.”

Throughout its eight-game losing streak, Pitt struggled to find the basket, but the offense was potent against Georgetown as the Panthers finished with a 52.1 percent field goal percentage. The shots were certainly falling for Robinson who was a perfect 9-9 from the field. His only miss came on a free-throw attempt with 1:21 remaining in the game.

“Nasir let things come to him and that it what he needs to do,” Dixon said. “He hurt [Georgetown] in zone and in man-to-man defense and you cannot say enough about his toughness.”

Another key to the Panther offense was the continued contribution of Woodall, playing in his third game back from an abdominal injury. Woodall finished with just four points, but his 10 assists were instrumental in his teammates’ success.

“Tray is a playmaker for us,” Gibbs said. “He has experience in every situation and he creates open looks for us. With Tray in the line-up, the best is yet to come from us.”

The Panther defense was just as important in the win as it held the Hoyas to an overall shooting percentage of 42.1 percent and kept them well under their average of 72 points per game.

For Patterson, the efforts against Georgetown validated the Panthers’ commitment to playing strong defense.

“We wanted to come out and be aggressive and hold our ground defensively,” Patterson said. “We have not done that much this year and we wanted to show everyone that we could get it done on defense.”

Georgetown was led offensively by freshman forward Otto Porter who scored 14 points off the bench. Senior guard Jason Clark, who entered the contest averaging 17 points per game, was held to nine points while going 0-3 from 3-point range.

Part of the Panthers’ success on defense was attributable to an impressive rebounding performance against Georgetown’s taller inside players.

Despite being out-sized underneath the basket, the Panthers managed to secure 35 boards, while the Hoyas pulled down just 23 total rebounds. Talib Zanna had a game-high 10 boards while Robinson chipped in with eight.

Pitt was especially dominant in the first twenty minutes of play as they built their largest lead of 17 points with just over four minutes remaining in the half and entered the locker room with a 33-22 lead.

As the second half opened, Georgetown came out battling and the Hoyas were able to cut the Panther lead to six at the 4:09 mark after two made free throws by freshman Greg Whittington made the score 49-55.

However, the very next play extended the Panther lead and represented well the unselfish style of play that led to the victory.

As the Panthers regained possession after the made foul shot, they ran the floor and Patterson dealt one of his seven assists to Dante Taylor who finished the play with a dunk.

“When we have everyone out on the floor, we are a good offensive team, passing well and getting penetration,” Dixon said. “We moved the ball better today than we have been and I am proud of our team.”

The Panthers will have a quick turnaround before their next Big East contest on Monday as they travel to Morgantown to take on West Virginia in the basketball version of the Backyard Brawl.

“Every game and every home court is tough in this conference and we know West Virginia like when come to their place,” Dixon said. “We will prepare hard for this game and I am certain we will continue to improve in the future because that is what we can control.”