Men’s Basketball: Taylor shines against Duquesne, Panthers set to face Tennessee

Dante Taylor’s play through this season’s first four games exemplified that of the Pitt… Dante Taylor’s play through this season’s first four games exemplified that of the Pitt men’s basketball team — it was good, but not great.

The center averaged seven points per game in that four-game stretch — which included Pitt’s loss to Long Beach State, in which he scored two points and committed four fouls.

But in Wednesday night’s win over Duquesne, Taylor was perfect.

Literally.

The junior center shot 6-6 from the field and 3-3 from the foul line en route to a season-high 15 points. He added 11 rebounds for his first double-double of the year. Taylor’s dominant performance came in his first game back after he missed the previous two games because of migraines.

“This game was definitely a confidence builder,” Taylor said after Wednesday night’s game. “The last game that I played — before the two I missed — I was able to come out and play with good energy. So to come out and have another game like that definitely helps me going into Saturday’s game against Tennessee.”

Pitt head coach Jamie Dixon was especially pleased with Taylor’s play in what was an overall sloppy game — the Panthers committed 23 turnovers compared to Duquesne’s 12.

“Dante was terrific,” Dixon said after Wednesday night’s game. “We probably should’ve had the ball in his hands more since he was the low turnover guy of the night.”

Taylor received help from his fellow big men inside this season.

When Taylor was out against Penn and Robert Morris, the Panthers turned to their bench for support. Dixon moved freshman Khem Birch into the starting lineup, and the center didn’t disappoint. Birch averaged 11.5 points and 10.5 rebounds in those two games, and sophomore Talib Zanna averaged nine points and 7.5 rebounds off the bench.

Taylor said that his teammates’ performances motivated him to elevate his own game.

“It definitely was motivating, because every day we battle — us three guys and Malcolm [Gilbert] and Aron [Nwankwo],” he said. “We fight to get each other better and working hard. Seeing [Birch and Zanna] come out of the past two games being able to do good on the inside, I definitely wanted to come back and keep that up.”

Redshirt sophomore small forward Lamar Patterson said that the Panthers have tried to get their big men more touches.

“We run plays for them to get open looks,” Patterson said. “We try to open them up off screens, and we’ve been trying to look to the post more often — just stuff that we should’ve been doing.”

The Panthers (6-1) will need production from every player on Saturday when they travel to Tennessee (3-3) for the Big East/SEC Challenge.

Despite dropping their last game to Oakland, the Volunteers’ offensive has been potent this season, averaging 84.7 points per game. Four of the Volunteers’ five starters are averaging double figures.

Patterson said that Tennessee’s depth distinguishes this year’s team from the squad that upset the then third-ranked Panthers at the Consol Energy Center last season.

“We really don’t know who their main guy is,” Patterson said. “Last year, I feel like we knew who their main guy was. But this year they have a few guys who can cause a problem.”

Tennessee point guard Trae Golden could cause the Panthers the most trouble.

Not only is Golden averaging 17 points and six assists per game, but Pitt starting point guard Tray Woodall’s status for Saturday is uncertain.

Woodall, who was injured late in the Duquesne game, did not practice Wednesday. Dixon said the team is waiting on Woodall’s MRI results before “making any decisions or calls” on his availability for Saturday.

If Woodall can’t play, Dixon said redshirt freshman Cameron Wright and freshman John Johnson will play more minutes.

Former Panther Dwight Miller — who transferred to Midland College (Texas) last year after two seasons at Pitt — is in his first year as a Volunteer after transferring from Midland College.

Miller redshirted his freshman year before playing in 16 games for the Panthers in 2009 and 2010. He even sang Jamie Foxx’s “Wedding Song” at Pitt assistant coach Brandin Knight’s wedding.

Dixon called Miller a “great kid,” saying, “The University of Pittsburgh was a better place when he was here.”