Men’s basketball: Panthers pick up seventh Big East road win

In a game that included a halftime deficit for the Panthers, the Pitt men’s basketball team… In a game that included a halftime deficit for the Panthers, the Pitt men’s basketball team came out on top with a historic 66-50 win over the South Florida Bulls last night.

The win earned head coach Jamie Dixon a NCAA-record 214th victory — the most ever for a coach in his first eight seasons. But that wasn’t all.

It also gave the Panthers (26-4, 14-3 Big East) a program-record seventh Big East road win in one season.

The game started with senior forward Gilbert Brown scoring eight of the Panthers’ first 11 points while going 4-for-4 from the field with the rest of the team shooting a miserable 1-for-8.

The Bulls (9-21, 3-14 Big East) also had a standout first-half performer in Jarrid Famous, who put up 11 points and grabbed 10 rebounds before the break. After five lead changes in the first eight minutes, the Bulls maintained a small advantage over the Panthers with a 27-24 halftime lead.

But when the teams returned from the break, the Panthers quickly put the game away.

Pitt exploded with a 12-0 run to open the half that was highlighted by two big plays inside from center Gary McGhee. Even when the Bulls finally scored, junior guard Ashton Gibbs responded by hitting three consecutive 3-pointers that extended the run to 21-5.

The Panthers shot 60.7 percent from the field in the second half, going 17-for-28 from the field and hit all four of their 3-point attempts. They also picked up their defense, holding South Florida to 23 points and 29.2 percent shooting after the break.

In the first half, the Bulls shot 42.9 percent to Pitt’s 34.8 percent.

Junior forward Nasir Robinson finished with a game-high 18 points to go along with 10 rebounds. The Panthers are undefeated this season when Robinson scores in double digits.

Gibbs finished the game with 16 points, shooting 4-of-6 from beyond the arc. Brown also scored in the double digits with 10 points on 5-of-6 shooting.

The Bulls were led by Famous, who cooled off after the first half and finished the game with 15 points to complement 12 rebounds. Junior forward Augustus Gilchrist also finished with 15 points.

Pitt out-rebounded South Florida 37-29.

For the Panthers, the timely win came after a tough loss on the road to Louisville last Sunday.

Pitt plays Villanova at home this Saturday at 4 p.m. to conclude the regular season. With a win, or a Notre Dame loss, the Panthers will clinch their first outright Big East regular season title since 2004.