Men’s basketball: Panthers top cross-state rival Villanova

With or without Ashton Gibbs, the No. 4 Pitt men’s basketball team keeps… With or without Ashton Gibbs, the No. 4 Pitt men’s basketball team keeps winning.

Villanova’s Isaiah Armwood’s intentional technical foul with 16:22 remaining kicked off a 19-4 Pitt run, and the Panthers ended the Wildcats’ 46-game win streak at The Pavilion with a 57-54 win Saturday night.

Pitt (23-2, 11-1 Big East) struggled offensively in the first half, but Armwood’s foul seemed to give the Panthers the jumpstart they needed. Armwood hit Nasir Robinson in the face as Armwood attempted to pull teammate Mouphtaou Yarou away from a tangle of players. After reviewing the incident on the courtside monitor, referees awarded Pitt two shots plus possession, and Villanova’s five-point lead soon turned into a deficit.

Pitt opened up an 11-point lead with five minutes remaining, yet the No. 10 Wildcats (19-6, 7-5 Big East) mounted a late surge that brought them within three points. But Dominic Cheek’s desperate attempt in the game’s final possession clanked off the rim, and Maalik Wayns’ made 3-pointer was too late by a fraction of a second.

Philadelphia native Brad Wanamaker had 21 points in Gibbs’ absence even though the Panthers did not shoot the ball well for much of the game. Pitt didn’t make a 3-pointer until Travon Woodall hit one with 13:35 to go.

“I thought we played well. We didn’t shoot it well,” Pitt head coach Jamie Dixon said in a post-game press conference.”

The Panthers finished 1-for-10 from 3-point range.

“We had good looks,” Dixon said. “We’ll come out and make [threes] next game.”

The Wildcats couldn’t find their rhythm from the perimeter either, as both teams spent much of the first half chasing after loose balls off missed shots and turnovers. Villanova star Corey Fisher finished with 11 points after he played most of the game in foul trouble and fouled out with 4:47 to go.

Fisher’s fourth foul occurred in the game’s second dead ball incident. Referees gave technical fouls to him and Robinson after the two players jawed at each other after a whistle.

Robinson, also from the Philadelphia area, finished with 15 points.

The loss is Fisher’s first at The Pavilion in his career. The Wildcats’ senior class had been 41-0 on Villanova’s campus.

In a game played in the paint, Yarou led Villanova with 15 points and 10 rebounds. The 6-foot-10 sophomore center anchored the Wildcats’ zone defense in the first half and kept Pitt from dominating the paint. Yarou’s double-double helped his team outrebound the Panthers 36-28.

Pitt’s offense missed Gibbs for the second straight game, but Villanova also played shorthanded. Senior guard Corey Stokes missed the game due to turf toe. With Stokes and Gibbs sitting on their respective benches, the teams combined for one 3-pointer in the first half.

Despite the frantic second half, it was a forgettable night for the reserves—the two teams combined for seven bench points. Wanamaker and Robinson both played 38 minutes for the Panthers, as Gibbs’ injury shortened Pitt’s bench.

Gibbs status for Wednesday night’s home game against South Florida is unknown. He hoped to play against Villanova but was held out. The coaching and training staff state that they continue to be conservative with his rehabilitation.

“Ashton tells you he’s ready,” Dixon said. “The doctors tell you differently. The trainers tell you differently.”