Men’s Basketball: Panthers open Big East play with 65-52 win against DePaul

If the Pitt men’s basketball team had any rust from the holiday break it didn’t show, as the… If the Pitt men’s basketball team had any rust from the holiday break it didn’t show, as the Panthers jumped out to an early 15-2 lead over DePaul en route to a 65-52 win in its Big East opener at the Petersen Events Center Monday night.

With 5:41 to go in the game, DePaul closed the gap to five, but Pitt’s trademark tough defense didn’t let the game get any closer than that.

The Panthers (11-2, 1-0 Big East) used an 11-3 run to end the game, highlighted by five of sophomore guard Ashton Gibbs’ game-high 23 points.

Gibbs also had seven rebounds to go along with fellow guard Brad Wannamaker’s nine rebounds. This type of improved rebounding by its guards is something that Pitt coach Jamie Dixon has been stressing all season.

“The coaches wanted me to rebound more so that’s what I wanted to focus on,” Gibbs said.

Pitt had yet another strong defensive game, limiting DePaul (7-6, 0-1 Big East) to just 34.5 percent from the field.

“We’re making people miss shots and doing some very good things,” coach Dixon said.

While Pitt’s offense slowed down a little at times in the second half, its free throw shooting kept the Panthers ahead. Pitt got into the bonus just about six minutes into the second half and capitalized, going 8-10 from the line.

Six of those eight free throws were made by Gibbs as he was yet again perfect from the charity stripe. He has made 33 free throws in a row, one shy of the school record held by Jason Matthews, Sean Miller and Don Hennon.

The Panthers have only recently been playing at full strenght, with senior guard Jermaine Dixon playing in his sixth game this year after breaking his foot over the summer and junior forward playing in his second game after sitting out due to academic ineligibility.

Dixon had 12 points and hit a 3-pointer with 22 seconds left in the game to put the finishing touches on the win. Brown finished with six points but added an impressive dunk in the first half.

“I think the team will improve vastly when Gil and Jermaine get into game shape,” DePaul coach Jerry Wainwright said.

The Panthers are hoping that the two round into shape sooner rather than later because they are about to start their toughest stretch of the season this Saturday when they travel to Syracuse to face the No. 5 Orange (12-0).

After that they travel to Cincinnati and No. 10 Connecticut before coming home to take on Louisville and No. 13 Georgetown.

However, the Pitt players are up to this challenge, citing that when this is what they wanted when they signed their letter of intent.

“This will tell a lot of people where they think we are,” Jermaine Dixon said. “This is what we came to this school for.”