Men’s basketball recent game recaps

Before the Pitt men’s basketball team ran its record to 14-0 following its win on Saturday over… Before the Pitt men’s basketball team ran its record to 14-0 following its win on Saturday over Georgetown, the No. 3 Panthers won four games over the holiday break. Pitt returned after a week-long break for finals to win its final two home tune-ups against mid-majors Maryland-Baltimore County and Siena. The team cruised to victory in each instance. The Panthers finally met some fierce competition with their first two true road contests of the season, against Florida State and Rutgers, respectively. Pitt trailed in both games, but crucial runs in the second half in each kept the Panthers undefeated. Pitt 78, Rutgers 72 Just when it appeared that Pitt was in danger of its first loss of the season in its Big East opener, an unlikely hero stepped into the spotlight. Sophomore guard Brad Wanamaker had a career day, scoring 13 of his 15 points in the second half to go along with five rebounds and four assists to lead the Panthers to a 78-72 victory over Rutgers in Piscataway, N.J., Dec. 31. Fellow reserve Gilbert Brown chipped in 11 points, while Sam Young paced the Panthers with 18 points on 8-of-12 shooting. Center DeJuan Blair had perhaps his worst game in his two years as a Panther. He got into early foul trouble in each half and played only eight total minutes. He scored two points and grabbed two rebounds. Sharp-shooting freshman guard Mike Rosario notched 22 points for the Scarlet Knights. Anthony Farmer scored 20, and Corey Chandler added 17. Pitt trailed the hot-shooting Scarlet Knights at halftime 43-39. Rutgers made 61.5 percent of its shots in the first half but cooled off in the final 20 minutes. Rutgers pushed its lead to 46-39 and led 55-50 midway through the second half. But the Panthers scored nine consecutive points, including five from Wanamaker, and never trailed again. Pitt 56, Florida State 48 On a day when buckets were tough to come by, Sam Young made enough when it counted. Young scored 21 of Pitt’s 56 points, including four straight after Florida State tied the game at 48 in the final two minutes to give Pitt a 56-48 triumph over the Seminoles on Dec. 21. The Panthers only shot 33 percent from the field, but Florida State made 30 percent its shots in the defensive-minded affair. Blair tallied a double-double with 10 points and 12 rebounds, and Jermaine Dixon threw in 11 points for the Panthers in their first true road game of the season. Guard Toney Douglas accumulated 20 points for Florida State, but no other Seminole scored more than seven points. Pitt led 26-24 at the half, but 10 straight Florida State points forced the Panthers into their largest deficit of the game. But Pitt scored the next 17 points of the game, which in turn gave it a 43-34 advantage. The Seminoles clawed back to tie the game at 48 with 2:25 to go, but the Panthers notched the final eight points to end the seesaw effect. Pitt 79, Siena 66 The Panthers outlasted a late charge from reigning MAAC champion Siena and prevailed Dec. 17 over the Saints 79-66. Blair paced the team with his seventh double-double of the season, recording 21 points and 16 rebounds. Young and Tyrell Biggs added 14 points apiece for the Panthers, who outrebounded the Saints 47-36 and tallied 25 assists on 30 field goals. ‘I try to score a different way every time,’ said Blair. ‘They just don’t have that power person. I like to be a little finesse, too.’ ‘He’s one of the best post players I’ve seen in my time of college basketball,’ said Siena coach Fran McCaffery. ‘He hurts you in so many different ways.’ Clarence Jackson and Edwin Ubiles led Siena with 12 points, while freshman guard Kyle Downey tallied 11. Pitt 91, UMBC 56 Pitt coach Jamie Dixon’s team became 10-0 for the sixth consecutive season as Pitt downed Maryland-Baltimore County 91-56 in front of 10,188 at the Petersen Events Center on Dec. 13. ‘It’s a game we expected to win,’ said Dixon. ‘But we still had to come out and play well. We did that.’ Young led the team offensively with 19 points, as Pitt scored more than 90 points for the first time this season. After a slow start, four other Panthers recorded at least 10 points. ‘After the first couple minutes of missing, we pretty much started hitting the shots,’ said Young, who went 7-of-12 from the floor. ‘The shots were there. We didn’t do much different after the beginning.’ The Panthers’ bench outscored the Retrievers’ 40-6. Darryl Proctor led the Retrievers with 13 points.