Men’s Basketball: Panthers finish second in Big East after closing out regular season with big win against Rutgers

With the clock winding down on the last regular season game of the year, the sold out crowd at… With the clock winding down on the last regular season game of the year, the sold out crowd at the Petersen Events Center gave a standing ovation to the Pitt men’s basketball team for a season that defied expectations.

However, the players on the court – J.J. Richardson, Chase Adams, Dwight Miller, Tim Frye and Nick Rivers – weren’t exactly the catalyst behind the Panthers finishing second in the Big East this year, but that’s what happens when you’re up by 29.

With the Panthers 83-54 victory over Rutgers today, Pitt finishes the regular season 24-7 and 13-5 in the Big East. This places the Panthers second behind Syracuse in the Big East this year, a year that started with Pitt being picked to finish ninth in the conference in the preseason coaches poll.

“Nobody predicted us to be second,” Panther forward Gilbert Brown said after the game.

And certainly not many could’ve predicted Pitt’s second-place finish earlier in the season when it was struggling to beat Wofford and Duquesne, and losing to Indiana.

“This team’s improved more than any team in the country since November,” Pitt coach Jamie Dixon said.

Thanks to their victory today, the Panthers don’t play again until the quarterfinals of the Big East tournament. As the No. 2 seed, Pitt is scheduled to play Thursday at 7 p.m., but won’t know its opponent until the night before.

“[Dixon’s] done an unbelievable job,” Rutgers coach Fred Hill said. “That’s the sign of a great program.”

Because Villanova lost to West Virginia earlier this afternoon, to secure the No. 2 seed all Pitt had to do was come out and beat Rutgers (15-16, 5-13 Big East). If the Panthers would’ve lost today, they would be the No. 4 seed in next week’s tournament. Even with seeding on the line, that didn’t give the Panthers any added incentive to beat Rutgers.

“Our primary focus was coming out and playing well as a team,” Brown said.

The Panthers started off the game dominate and didn’t let up. Roughly midway through the first half, they led 22-7, and were up 40-16 at the half.

A layup by Dante Taylor capped an 18-12 run to open the second half to give Pitt a 58-28 lead with 12:58 to go in the game. Taylor finished the game with 11 points, the first time he’s scored in double figures since Pitt’s 82-72 win at Syracuse Jan. 2. It’s just the fourth time the freshman has scored more than 10 in his Pitt career.

Taylor credited his improved play to his confidence, which he said has been growing since he scored six points, all on dunks, in Pitt’s win against Marquette Feb. 18.

In addition to his 11 points, Taylor grabbed seven rebounds. Six of those were on the offensive end, matching Rutgers’ total as a team.

“It was really easy for me to box them out,” he said.

Taylor wasn’t the only Panther to have a big day offensively, though. Ten Panthers scored in the victory, led by Brown’s 19 off the bench. Ashton Gibbs netted 13, Brad Wanamaker scored 12 and Jermaine Dixon added 10. Wanamaker and Travon Woodall tied for the team lead with five assists each, and the Panthers dished out 19 assists while turning the ball over just seven times.

“Over the last couple of games, you can see us really move the ball well,” Brown said.

The last time Pitt had more turnovers than assists for a whole game was Feb. 3 in its 70-51 loss to West Virginia. The Panthers had five assists and seven turnovers in that one.

The Panthers also dominated the glass, out-rebounding Rutgers 41-24, including 17-6 on the offensive end.

Since it was the last regular game, it was also senior day. Before the game, Jamie Dixon, chancellor Mark Nordenberg and athletics director Steve Pederson stood at half court and honored student managers and trainers. They then brought out the seniors on the team, including team manager Austin Wallace, who used to play for Pitt before injuring his knee.

The other seniors on the team are Jermaine Dixon, Chase Adams and Tim Frye. While Dixon started the game, and Adams saw a lot of playing time in the second half, fan favorite Frye was on the bench most of the game.

With about eight minutes to go in the game, many in attendance started chanting “We want Tim Frye!” Everyone at the game was also given sheets of paper with each senior’s number on a different portion of the page, and throughout most of the second half many Panther fans folded their paper to display Frye’s number 44.

At one point late in the second half, Woodall checked into the game and was actually booed by the fans because he wasn’t Frye. Woodall shrugged, laughed and then continued playing. Eventually, Frye entered the game, went 0-1 from the field and pulled down one rebound.

After the game, Jamie Dixon said he was happy he got all of the seniors into the game.

“I didn’t cry, but it was emotional,” Jermaine Dixon said. “I enjoyed my two years playing at the Pete.”