Pitt basketball shows a preview of coming season in Blue-Gold game

Ashton Gibbs has picked up right where he left off.

Gibbs – the senior guard and Pre-Season… Ashton Gibbs has picked up right where he left off.

Gibbs — a senior guard for the Pitt men’s basketball team and the Big East Preseason Player of the Year — had 26 points and led the Blue team to a 57-49 victory over Gold in the annual Blue-Gold scrimmage held at the Petersen Events Center on Saturday.

The game pits the two halves of the men’s basketball team against one another and gives fans their first glimpse of the Panthers.

Gibbs went 7-13 from the field, 2-5 from 3-point range and 10-10 from the free-throw line. He also finished with four assists.

“I probably should have guarded him a lot more,” junior guard Travon Woodall said with a smile. “It’s hard to disrupt somebody like that.”

Woodall, who covered Gibbs for portions of the game, is convinced his teammate has improved since his stellar junior season.

“I don’t know if you noticed his burst of speed out of the dribble, but his first step got so much faster,” Woodall added. “His whole body changed.”

The game started off sloppy, with a turnover, goaltending call, missed shot, foul and travel all in the first four possessions, but after scoring a total of only eight points at the 11:55 mark in the first half, each team began to find its rhythm.

For the Gold team, sophomore J.J. Moore did his best to overcome Gibbs’ strong performance by scoring a team-high 18 points.

“The beginning of the game was a little sloppy because we had the freshmen out there,” Moore said. “But we picked it up and just came out there and played hard and everyone contributed well.”

Woodall noticed the slow start as well, crediting it mostly to the players’ nerves for the first time back on the floor.

“A lot of players had to get their jitters out,” Woodall said. “Those first couple up and downs, when the lights are bright, you get the jitters.”

Moore finished 6-15 from the field and added seven rebounds and an assist to his stat line.

“Points are good, but it’s a team sport,” Moore said. “I just wanted to contribute to getting the win, but unfortunately we didn’t come out with it.”

Khem Birch also drew some attention. The McDonald’s All-American, playing for the first time on his new Pitt homecourt, drew some early cheers for his ability in the air.

The freshman forward recorded eight points, four rebounds and three blocks — not including two that were waved for goaltending.

“I want to get the highlights — blocking shots and getting dunks,” Birch said. “But I also want to win too; don’t get me wrong.”

Birch, who had an explosive put-back dunk for the Gold team’s first points of the second half, drew additional attention to the blond streak running through his hair.

“I just like being different,” Birch said. “I was going to wear fluorescent green shoes. Hopefully Coach [Jamie] Dixon will let me.”

The freshman also had three turnovers, and he admitted he felt some of those jitters his teammates had alluded to.

“You know, I really did,” Birch said. “Coaches really look at this stuff to see if you’re ready.”

The crowd was loudest when guard Nick Rivers — the senior walk-on who sees limited playing time during the season — hit back-to-back 3-pointers with less than two minutes left in the game to seal the victory for the Blue squad.

Rivers finished with six points, an assist and a steal in 13 minutes of play time.

While Moore admitted the game was “mostly fun and games,” head coach Dixon understands that this time is valuable.

“It’s practice number seven. It’s six freshmen. It’s a team finding their way,” Dixon said.

Noticeably absent from the game was senior forward Nasir Robinson, who had knee surgery on Friday and is expected to miss three to four weeks.

The team expects him to make a full recovery and return in time for Pitt’s season opener against Albany on Nov. 11.