Blair’s career day sparks Panthers in comeback victory

Saturday’s Pitt-Notre Dame matchup at the Petersen Events Center was expected to showcase two of… Saturday’s Pitt-Notre Dame matchup at the Petersen Events Center was expected to showcase two of the best frontcourt players in the nation: the Panthers’ DeJuan Blair and the Fighting Irish’s Luke Harangody. Blair and Harangody didn’t disappoint, with both registering monster numbers. But Blair and the No. 3 Panthers outscored Notre Dame 54-35 in the second half to emerge victorious, 93-80. Blair tallied 23 points and pulled down a career-high 22 rebounds, 11 of them offensively (also a career-high), and recorded his 14th double-double of the season by the end of the first half. ‘I let the game come to me,’ said Blair. ‘I was scoring, but 22 rebounds, I didn’t know I had all that.’ Harangody started slow, scoring eight points in the first half on 3-of-11 shooting, but finished with a game-high of 27 points and 11 rebounds. ‘[Harangody’s] a heck of a player,’ said Blair. ‘It’s kind of hard guarding him because he’s quick on his feet and he’s got a little fade-away shot that’s a killer. He did a good job. I like playing against him.’ But the highly anticipated battle between Blair and Harangody took a back seat in the first 20 minutes to the unforeseen Luke Zeller-Ashton Gibbs showdown. Zeller, the Irish’s senior center, made his first four 3-point attempts and went 6 for 8 from downtown in the first half, totaling 18 points. But Pitt’s defense limited Zeller to only one shot in the second half ‘mdash; which he missed. Like Zeller, Gibbs didn’t score in the second half. But his 13 first-half points aided Pitt’s comeback from an early 10-point deficit. ‘I just wanted to take what the defense gave me,’ said Gibbs. ‘I think I took advantage of that in the first half. I think it’s my job to come in and catch and shoot, and that’s what I did.’ In all, five Panthers finished in double figures. Senior point guard Levance Fields scored 17 points and added seven assists with no turnovers. Junior Jermaine Dixon finished with 16 points and went 3 for 3 on 3-pointers, while sophomore Brad Wanamaker added 13 by making all eight of his free throws. Pitt (19-2, 7-2 Big East) triumphed despite senior forward Sam Young’s worst game of the season. Young finished with five points and four rebounds on 2-of-11 shooting. Zach Hillesland scored 12 points for Notre Dame (12-8, 3-6 Big East), which lost five consecutive games and fell out of the national rankings last week. ‘I’m Mr. Positive,’ said Notre Dame coach Mike Brey. ‘There’s so much basketball to be played. Now, there [are] some things we’ve got to do better. You’ve got to let this thing play out.’ Zeller’s hot start stunned the crowd and gave the Irish a quick 20-10 lead. Notre Dame made five of its first seven long-range shots. Pitt responded with an 11-3 run, capped by a contested 3-pointer from Gibbs. But Ryan Ayers and Zeller punched back, knocking down back-to-back 3-pointers to push the score to 29-21. But the Panthers slowly clawed back, thanks to the efforts of Gibbs and Fields. Gibbs hit two more 3-pointers on his way to 13 first-half points, and Fields pressured Notre Dame into turnovers to bring Pitt back to a 34-34 tie. Just as quickly, Kyle McAlarney and Zeller nailed consecutive 3-pointers to give the Irish a six-point lead, which wound up being the deficit at the half, 45-39. Notre Dame finished the half with 33 of its 45 points coming from beyond the arc. Pitt stormed out of the locker room with 10 consecutive points to take its first lead since the opening possession of the game. The Panthers defense stepped up a notch and limited Notre Dame’s 3-point attempts and forced more turnovers to extend Pitt’s lead in the ensuing minutes. ‘I think what really hurt us was how we started the second half,’ said Brey. ‘A couple turnovers, we lost some momentum there. The thing that they do better than anybody, maybe in the country, offensive rebound, they did well in the second half.’ A Dixon 3-pointer with 11:06 remaining gave the Panthers a 66-55 advantage, capping a 27-10 run. The Irish could get no closer than nine the rest of the way. After taking 22 3-pointers in the first half and making 11 of them, Notre Dame made only 1-of-5 in the final 20 minutes.