Basketball: McGhee shines in week two of summer league

For the Pitt men’s basketball team, summer doesn’t mean vacation.

Just ask… For the Pitt men’s basketball team, summer doesn’t mean vacation.

Just ask Gary McGhee, who led his summer league team with 22 points and 15 rebounds Monday. McGhee   — along with the rest of the team — has to balance his summer with classes, conditioning and basketball games.

Pitt forward Nasir Robinson seems to be benefiting from his work-filled summer as well. He scored 16 points while playing against half his teammates.

“Summer league is good competition for the team. These are guys we play against every year,” he said. “It’s a good chance for us to come out and play our game every night like we do during the season.”

The Lair 89 vs. SPK Law 79

The first game of the night featured three Panthers on either side of the ball.

Brad Wanamaker, J.J. Moore and Robinson played for SPK Law, while Gilbert Brown, Chase Adams and Talib Zanna battled for The Lair.

The game was a competitive in the beginning, with the score flip-flopping often.

Zanna battled hard on the boards to collect 10 rebounds and 14 points, while Brown excited fans with a block against the backboard and several high-flying dunks. He shot 3-of-6 from behind the 3-point line and finished the game with 23 points.

Duquesne freshman T.J. McConnell scored 22 points for The Lair.

In the second half, though, Robinson stood out for SPK Law. He finished with 16 points after shooting 6 for 11 from the field.

“My focus this summer has been a lot on conditioning, ball handling and just overall working on my shot, especially my free throws,” Robinson said.

He went 4-4 from the charity stripe in Monday’s contest.

Wanamaker contributed 14 points, and Moore had 16 in the team’s losing effort.

PGT 74 vs. P&W Motors 68

Though the score indicates only a six-point differential, the second game of the night was dominated from start to finish by the winning team: PGT.

Gary McGhee led PGT with 22 points, 15 rebounds and a single turnover. He converted 10-of-17 shots from the field.

Lamar Patterson had 12 points and seven rebounds to contribute to the win. All eyes were on freshman Cam Wright again as he shot 4-of-11 from the field and had three rebounds.

For P&W Motors, the Pitt players were quiet. Dwight Miller posted four points, while Nick Rivers collected two rebounds and an assist, but no points.

Instead, the team was led by former Robert Morris forward Dallas Green, who shot 8 for 14 from the field and collected 22 points.

In the end, however, McGhee’s dominant performance underneath was too much for P&W Motors to stop.

Center Court 73 vs. UPMC 72

Pitt fans watched as familiar faces Ashton Gibbs competed for Center Court and Travon Woodall competed for UPMC in what seemed to be a shooting showdown.

Gibbs finished the game with 25 points and shot 4-11 from behind the arc. Woodall sank 22 points, made all eight of his foul shots and shot 7-13 from the field.

Robert Morris’ Russell Johnson made 19 points and put on a very impressive performance for Center Court.

Other Pitt players present were J.J. Richardson, who scored seven points for Center Court, and Dante Taylor, who put up 11 points and grabbed nine rebounds.

The Richardson-Taylor matchup was certainly a point of interest for Pitt fans to watch, as well as Taylor’s progression from last season to this summer, especially in terms of his communication with his teammates and his overall floor presence.

All six teams will return to action tonight at the Greentree Sportsplex.