Men’s Basketball: Pitt coasts to win over Seton Hall

With 15:09 remaining in the first half, the No. 5 Pitt men’s basketball trailed Seton Hall… With 15:09 remaining in the first half, the No. 5 Pitt men’s basketball trailed Seton Hall 7-6. The Panthers’ highly efficient offense was leading to open looks, but not many baskets.

Then, Travon Woodall hit a 3-point basket, and everything seemed to fall into place as Pitt pulled away for a 74-53 victory on Saturday night.

From Woodall’s 3-pointer on, Pitt (17-1, 5-0 Big East) out-scored the Pirates (8-10, 2-4 Big East) 27-11 to take a 33-18 lead into the half. Only one player reached double figures before the break—Gary McGhee with 10 points—but seven different Panthers scored.

“We found guys and for the most part, we didn’t settle,” Pitt head coach Jamie Dixon said. “We got a lot of lay-ups out of our passing. I think everybody knows we have a very balanced team…we closed the door pretty early.”

That balance endured throughout the game for Pitt, as two players reached double figures, but seven scored five points or more. No Panthers played more than 29 minutes as 13 players saw the floor.

With leading scorer Ashton Gibbs shooting 3-13 and scoring eight points, senior Brad Wanamaker said the other players stepped up as they have all season.

“[There’s] a lot of guys that can step in and contribute as a team,” he said. “Everybody just contributed in different ways: rebounding, passing, playing good defense.”

Gary McGhee led the Panthers with a double-double, scoring 13 points and grabbing 10 rebounds. Talib Zanna also finished in double figures with 10 points. McGhee said it felt good to earn a double-double, especially over a future NBA center in Herb Pope.

With Pitt’s shot not falling from the outside—the Panthers went 7-20 from three overall and 2-10 in the first half—Wanamaker said the Panthers focused on getting the ball inside.

“Anytime the shot isn’t going on the outside, you want to go inside,” he said. “The big guys inside gave us good moments down there. Going through big men is always a plus for our team.”

Seton Hall head coach Kevin Willard said the inside presence for the Panthers is a major reason they’re so difficult to play against.

“What makes them dangerous is that fact that McGhee and those guys take up a lot of space,” he said. “You have to double team them to keep them off the glass.”

Wanamaker neared a triple-double, scoring nine points, dishing out seven assists and pulling down seven boards. Willard said Wanamaker is “a glue guy” for the Panthers.

“He goes out there, plays hard, runs the offense and does everything they ask him to do,” he said. “He’s unselfish…they have a lot of guys like that. That’s a reason I think they’re one of the two best teams in the country, because everybody does their role and does it well.”

Pope led Seton Hall with 15 points and ten rebounds. Jordan Theodore and Jeff Robinson scored 11 and 10 points, respectively.

Pitt held leading scorer Jeremy Hazell, who came off the bench in his second Big East game this season, to nine points on 3-of-13 shooting. Hazell missed 13 games after breaking his non-shooting wrist and then suffering a gunshot wound.

“I thought he played well,” Willard said. “We knew he was going to have a few nights where he was 3-13. For him, it’s getting his legs back on a constant basis.”

Hazell said he felt 100 percent.

Pitt dominated the boards, pulling in 51 rebounds to Seton Hall’s 27. McGhee pulled down more offensive rebounds—six—than Seton Hall’s four offensive rebounds. The Panthers grabbed 23 total offensive boards.

“I’m excited about how we played,” Dixon said. “I thought we came out and took care of business. We wanted to beat them on the glass by a big number.”

Dixon said Pitt’s offense “wasn’t ideal,” but that the Panthers managed to take good shots, even if they weren’t falling all night.

Now that the Panthers wrapped up the game against Seton Hall, they can start looking forward to a Monday match-up with No. 4 Syracuse. Pitt is currently 8-0 against top five teams in the Petersen Events Center.

“Once the game was over, we knew our next test was Syracuse,” Wanamaker said. “From tonight on, we are just going to focus on them and figure out how we are going to get shots against their zone.”

Willard said he’s looking forward to watching the game between two of the Big East’s best teams.

“It’s going to be a heck of a battle,” he said. “Both have great size and terrific guard play. I thought Syracuse was one of the more unselfish teams we played until we played these guys.”

With the looming game against the Orange, Dixon was pleased with the way the Panthers pulled ahead early and remained focused on Seton Hall.

“I liked how we took care of business,” he said. “To come out and get a 15 point lead…showed a lot of character by our guys.”