Men’s basketball: Team isn’t worried about back-to-back losses, prepared for St. John’s

Three years ago D.J. Kennedy and DeJuan Blair teamed up to lead Schenley High School to the… Three years ago D.J. Kennedy and DeJuan Blair teamed up to lead Schenley High School to the state championship.

Kennedy returns to his hometown of Pittsburgh, where his high school friend became a college star, to play tonight. His St. John’s Red Storm (12-7, 2-5 Big East) will take on No. 17 Pitt at the Petersen Events Center at 7 p.m.

Pitt (15-4, 5-2), meanwhile, will not only try to stop Kennedy — who leads St. John’s with 15.3 points per game — but also stop a losing streak. The Panthers fell to Seton Hall, 64-61, Sunday, four days after losing to No. 12 Georgetown.

Pitt center Gary McGhee said the recent losses won’t faze the team when they play St. John’s.

“Confidence isn’t an issue,” McGhee said. “We did some things that cost us games: turnovers against Seton Hall and defensive mishaps down the stretch against Georgetown.”

Pitt coach Jamie Dixon agreed that turnovers have hurt his team recently. The Panthers gave the ball away 20 times against Seton Hall.

“You out-rebound by 14, and then you don’t end up winning the game,” Dixon said. “That’s strictly based on the number of turnovers … We have to cut that down.”

The offense, which clicked in victories over Syracuse and Louisville, sputtered against the Pirates. Dixon reiterated that the solution to Pitt’s problems is to limit turnovers versus St. John’s.

“When you turn it over, you’re not going to get as many shot opportunities,” Dixon said. “That was really the bottom line. We didn’t get enough shots.”

“We just got to be smarter with the ball,” guard Gilbert Brown said. Brown was one of four Panthers with at least three turnovers against Seton Hall.

Another correction Dixon wants to make against the Red Storm? Utilizing his bench. He noted that some players have been underused thus far in conference play.

“We’ve got to play our guys more minutes,” Dixon said. “Defensively, that will make us better.”

Ashton Gibbs averages more than 35 minutes per game this season, while senior transfer Chase Adams, who was the defensive player of the year last season in the Summit League, hasn’t played more than three minutes in any Big East game.

Dixon said that foul troubles and injuries limited how he used his bench against Seton Hall. In addition, Jermaine Dixon’s dislocated finger threw off his plans.

“He was out for a stretch,” Jamie Dixon said. “It really messed up our rotation … You have to adjust when those things happen.”

The senior guard practiced Tuesday and is expected to play against St. John’s.

“We’ll see how he feels,” Jamie Dixon said. “Seeing his finger [against Seton Hall], you didn’t think he’d be back in the game.”

Pitt lost leads in the second half of both last week’s defeats, but the coach said that’s just typical Big East play and not indicative of a lack of confidence.

“We could’ve lost the Louisville game and won the Seton Hall game just as easily,” Dixon said. “We got to play well enough early, and not be in those situations.”

Despite its losing streak, Pitt still leads the Big East in defense, giving up 60.1 points on average. However, Dixon doesn’t want his team to become complacent.

“We could have been the best defensive team in the league — in the country — and we’d still say it’s not good enough,” Dixon said. “We need to take strides defensively.”

Pitt allowed Seton Hall to shoot 44.6 percent from the floor on Sunday.

“We have to get back to doing what we do best,” Brown said. “Even the game we won against Louisville, we still let them shoot a high percentage.”

Besides the Pittsburgh native Kennedy, St. John’s also looks to junior Dwight Hardy for his 11.8 points per game. In addition, three weeks ago, the Red Storm welcomed senior forward Anthony Mason Jr. back from the injured list. As a sophomore last season, Mason scored 29 points against Pitt.

“Their team changed a lot with Mason back,” McGhee said. “He’s a big-time scorer.”

Jamie Dixon said that St. John’s may still be easing Mason back into the lineup, just as he eased Jermaine Dixon back from his foot injury earlier this season.

Pitt will try to prevent a third straight in-conference loss against the Red Storm. Last week’s losses dropped Pitt to No. 17 in both the AP and the coaches’ poll Monday, but Brown said nobody on the team is panicking.

“Basketball is a game of ups and downs,” Brown said. “Better teams get it together and pull it out, and that’s what I think we’re going to go. I really believe in this team, and I think we’re going to take over in this late part of the Big East schedule.”