Men’s basketball: Pitt overcomes strong start from Robert Morris for blowout victory

After getting all it could handle from Robert Morris (16-9, 11-1 NEC) in the first half, the… After getting all it could handle from Robert Morris (16-9, 11-1 NEC) in the first half, the Pitt men’s basketball team used a 13-2 second half run to pull away after the break, eventually defeating the Colonials 77-53.

The Panthers (18-6, 7-4 Big East) started the second half on a 13-2, 6-minute run at the Petersen Event Center last night. The run transformed their 6-point halftime lead into a 52-35 advantage.

“They have those smaller guards that you don’t really see in the Big East, and you are sometimes surprised by their quickness,” Pitt head coach Jamie Dixon said of Robert Morris. “We stayed with the same technique and roles in the second half, but I think we just wore them down.”

Gary McGhee scored four straight points after the break as Pitt pushed its lead into double digits in a little more than a minute.

Nasir Robinson and Jermaine Dixon followed with a layup and a jumper, respectively, before Robert Morris’ Mezie Nwigwe broke up Pitt’s eight straight points with a basket.

Robinson and McGhee answered by combining for three points at the line, and Gibbs knocked down two foul shots following a technical on Colonials’ head coach Mike Rice.

Robert Morris never pulled within single digits from that point, as Pitt held them to 20 points in the second half.

Gibbs found his shooting stroke in scoring a game-high 20 points while shooting 40 percent from the three.

“It felt good [to hit some threes],” Gibbs said. “It’s something I’ve been working on consistently, and I knew it would fall sooner or later. I was just taking advantage of what they gave me, and my teammates did a good job of finding me.”

Jermaine Dixon continued to impress since returning from his ankle injury, joining Gibbs in double figures with 18 points while shooting 3-of-6 from 3-point range.

Brad Wanamaker added a double-double with 12 points and a game-high 10 rebounds.

As a team, the Panthers shot 10 for 22 from beyond the arc.

“Teams knocking down threes makes the defense extend more, and we get more driving lanes,” Jermaine Dixon said. “We can dump inside. It keeps teams honest, and it can be a big part of our success.”

Jamie Dixon said Jermaine’s recent shooting success results from him joining the team in practice. Jermaine, who was plagued with multiple ankle injuries and a finger injury, was unable to practice with the team for an extended period.

“There was a two-week stretch where he didn’t practice and didn’t play,” Jamie Dixon said. “He practiced the last couple of days. He’s a different player, and we’re a different team. Him practicing makes us a better team.”

The Colonials’ head coach said his team wanted to make the Panthers take jump shots because beyond Gibbs, Pitt tends to struggle from three. However, the Panthers thrived from three against Robert Morris, and Rice said Jermaine Dixon broke away from his difficulties beyond the arc against the Colonials last year as well.

He also praised Jermaine Dixon’s defense.

“Dixon’s good defensively,” Rice said. “He makes you catch the ball 4 or 5 feet from where you should catch the ball.”

McGhee scored all eight of his points in the second half to go along with six rebounds.

Karon Abraham led Robert Morris with 16 points, while Brad Piehl added 11. Nwigwe and Velton Jones added 10 points each.

Despite the lopsided final score, the Panthers weren’t always in control. In the first half, the Colonials led for the majority of the time before Pitt took a 39-33 lead into the break.

“We were able to play with them, attack and move the defense, but they kept coming at us, and that’s what good defensive teams do,” Rice said. “They made adjustments.”

The game was tied with about two-and-a-half minutes remaining in the first half, and that’s when Gilbert Brown and Jermaine Dixon took over. Brown made two layups, and Dixon hit a three down the stretch to help the Panthers build their halftime lead. The halftime score marked Pitt’s biggest advantage of the first half.

The Colonials, who led by as many as six in the first half, shot 48 percent from the field and 50 percent from three in the first half. Karon Abraham scored a team-high 14 points on 5-of-9 shooting from the field, including 2-of-4 from three.

Gibbs and Dixon led the Panthers through the first half, helping them overcome the persistent Robert Morris scorers. Gibbs scored eight of Pitt’s first 11 points, finishing the half with a game-high 15. Dixon added 13.

The Panthers’ next game is on Saturday at 9 p.m., when they take on West Virginia at the Petersen Event Center for the second installment of the Backyard Brawl.

“What happened down there is behind us,” Jermaine Dixon said of West Virginia’s 70-51 victory on Feb. 3. “We’re going to be anxious just because that’s the next game that we play, not because it’s West Virginia. We’re a new team since that game.”