Men’s Basketball: Hot-handed Gibbs shoots Pitt past Binghamton

This was just the type of game Ashton Gibbs needed. After going a combined 7 for 29 from the field in the team’s first two exhibitions and season opener, he exploded against Binghamton last night for 22 points including a career-high six 3-pointers.

His effort was more than enough for the Panthers, as they defeated the Binghamton Bearcats 71-46 at the Petersen Events Center in the first round of the O’Reilly Auto Parts CBE Classic to improve to 2-0 this season.

Gibbs hit five 3-pointers in a span of nine minutes in the first half to gave him 17 points at the intermission. Gibbs’ first half point total of 17 matched the entire Bearcat output, as Pitt led 37-17 at the half.

“I had a couple open [shots], so I just tried to take advantage of it by knocking it down, and that’s what I did,” Gibbs said.

For Gibbs, who led the Big East in 3-point shooting percentage last year, his early season struggles weren’t a concern.

“I knew it was going to come sooner or later,” Gibbs said. “I just wanted to be patient with it and if I have an open [shot] I’m going to be confident enough to make it and keep shooting.”

The constant barrage of 3-pointers seemed to break the back of an already-struggling team that dressed only seven scholarship players. Six Bearcat players, including a couple of its leading scorers from last season, were dismissed from the team in September for various reasons.

They didn’t provide much resistance in the post either, as power forward Nasir Robinson had seven points, 10 rebounds and five assists, and center Gary McGhee had nine points along with six rebounds.

“We’re going to use him differently than we’ve used any four-spot we’ve ever had,” Pitt coach Jamie Dixon said of Robinson.

Maybe the most telling stat of all was on the offensive glass, where the Panthers out-rebounded Binghamton 11-5, giving the Panthers 14 second-chance points to the Bearcats’ one.

“That’s six more rebounds offensively than we could’ve had defensively. That’s 12 points,” Binghamton interim head coach Mark Macon said.

He also pointed out that Pitt had just six turnovers to Binghamton’s 13. With the seven turnover advantage for Pitt, that’s another 14 points, he said.

“With those 26 points, it’s a much different game,” Macon said.

Redshirt freshman point guard Travon Woodall had an impressive game as he continues to make his case for a starting role once Jermaine Dixon returns from injury.

Woodall had 10 points and 13 assists and moved the ball up the court leading to several baskets in transition that never allowed Binghamton to get set. Graduated point guard Levance Fields didn’t get 10 assists in a game until his senior season, and Woodall credits Fields for teaching him how to be a better point guard.

“I want to credit a lot of my assists to Levance from last year,” Woodall said. “He did a great job of showing me how to be real patient and [take] what the defense gives me.”

Junior Brad Wanamaker finished second on the team with 14 points. He opened up the second half by scoring seven consecutive points.

Maybe the biggest difference in yesterday’s game from Pitt’s narrow three-point win on Friday against Wofford was its ability to carry over how the team practiced to the game. The Panthers will look to do the same tomorrow night when they take on Eastern Kentucky at the Pete at 7 p.m.

“What we preached this week is ‘play like we practice,’” Dixon said. “I thought last game we didn’t play like we practiced, and today we did. That was a big step for us.”