Men’s basketball: Panthers shake off slow start to win NCAA Tournament game

WASHINGTON – On a day filled with buzzer-beaters, upsets and close games, the Pitt men’s… WASHINGTON – On a day filled with buzzer-beaters, upsets and close games, the Pitt men’s basketball team avoided all of that and took care of business by beating UNC-Asheville 74-51 on Thursday at the Verizon Center.

“We just gotta take it one game at a time,” Pitt guard Ashton Gibbs said after the game. “I think if we do that we’ll be fine, and just keep playing our game.”

In Pitt’s quest to make history by earning a Final Four bid for the first time since the tournament expanded to 64 teams, the Panthers first had to avoid making a different kind of history by avoiding becoming the first No. 1 seed to lose to a No. 16.

For a while, it appeared as if UNC-Asheville might have a chance to pull off the monumental upset, thanks to several first-half mistakes by the Panthers.

“We had a decent lead in the first half, and a couple turnovers brought it back,” Pitt head coach Jamie Dixon said after the game. “[UNC-Asheville] is a good team, and they took advantage of those opportunities. Ashton [Gibbs] obviously shot much better in the second.”

UNC-Asheville held Gibbs, Pitt’s leading scorer, to just six points in the first half. Early in the second half, Pitt had just a three-point lead over the Bulldogs.

“I felt we battled them really well in the first half and we just needed to play better,” UNC-Asheville coach Eddie Biedenbach said. “I think Pitt is a really good team.”

Turnovers caused many of Pitt’s early struggles, as the Panthers racked up eight giveaways before halftime. But in the second half Pitt pulled away thanks to an offensive outburst by Gibbs, who finished with 26 points and six 3-pointers.

“I just tried to move it without the ball,” Gibbs said of his strong second half. “We’ve been in different situations like this. Now it was just our turn to be patient and let the game come to us. My teammates did a great job of passing me the ball to get open spots.”

Pitt’s Nasir Robinson chipped in with 12 points and Gilbert Brown added nine points and nine rebounds to go along with center Gary McGhee’s 11 rebounds to lead the Panthers on the boards.

Pitt’s strong rebounding also doomed the Bulldogs, as the Panthers won the battle of the boards 50-27, marking the sixth time this season that Pitt surpassed 50 rebounds.

Bulldog guard Matt Dickey led his team with 21 points, and guard J.P. Primm added 14.

After the game, Dixon once again fielded questions about whether Pitt can finally get over the hurdle and make it to the Final Four.

“I think that every team has the belief that they can win the National Championship, every player on every one of these teams. And so I think we’re just like those teams,” Dixon said. “But we’re really focused on the next game.”

Up next on Pitt’s road to Houston is another team of Bulldogs. No. 8 seed Butler defeated No. 9 Old Dominion on Thursday afternoon thanks to a buzzer-beater by Matt Howard. The 2010 NCAA Tournament runner-up will face Pitt on Saturday at the Verizon Center.