Blakely contained in Panthers victory

Reigning America East Player of the Year Marqus Blakely ended with his usual sterling numbers… Reigning America East Player of the Year Marqus Blakely ended with his usual sterling numbers against the Pitt men’s basketball team on Saturday. But the Vermont junior forward’s production was backloaded and unassisted by his Catamount teammates, while the Panthers cruised to an easy 80-51 victory at the Petersen Events Center. Blakely finished with 19 points and 14 rebounds but was neutralized while Pitt took control of the contest in the first half. The Pitt defense held Blakely to three first-half points on one field goal, which came on a layup with 2:33 remaining. Pitt coach Jamie Dixon said it took a total team effort to contain Blakely and the Catamounts’ offensive attack. ‘We came into the game telling our guys that this team was as good an offensive team as we’ve played against,’ said Dixon. ‘[Blakely’s] a very good player, he played 39 minutes so he wasn’t coming out. I thought our double team was effective early, it’s hard to do it for 40 minutes, but I think for the most part we did.’ The Catamounts (4-3) shot 29.4 percent from the floor for the game. Blakely finished 5-for-14 from the field. While Vermont’s star was held in check for most of the duration, Pitt’s top player continued his torrid offensive stretch. Senior Sam Young led the Panthers (9-0) in scoring for the fifth-straight game, notching 28 points on 10-of-21 shooting. The forward added nine rebounds in 31 minutes. ‘This team wasn’t that great defensively,’ said Young in reference to Vermont. ‘I definitely took advantage of that. The guards didn’t pressure the ball as much. We pretty much showed our offense and our defense today, and it overpowered them.’ Pitt senior forward Tyrell Biggs was impressed with what Young could do. ‘When he’s hot, he’s hot,’ said Biggs. ‘He was hot tonight.’ After nine games, Young’s scoring average stands at 20.8 points per game. He has achieved at least 23 points in four of Pitt’s last five contests. ‘We’re running a lot more plays for him than we’ve ever run for a guy,’ said Dixon. ‘He plays so hard, he’s so mentally tough as well as physically tough. It’s just something that works for us.’ Pitt center DeJuan Blair had a double-double with 13 points and 16 rebounds, while Biggs scored 10 points and pulled down seven rebounds. Freshman guard Ashton Gibbs was the final Panther in double figures with 11 points. The Panthers outrebounded Vermont 59-41 aided by 24 on the offensive end, including seven by Blair. Reserve guard Joey Accaoui scored 10 points in 17 minutes for the Catamounts. Pitt scored the first 13 points of the game, highlighted by consecutive 3-pointers by Biggs. Vermont’s Mike Trimboli finally broke the streak, connecting from beyond the arc to cut the lead to 10. The Catamounts struggled to gain any sort of momentum offensively against the aggressive Panthers. Pitt’s defense limited Vermont to only 25 percent shooting in the first half and forced nine turnovers. Vermont pulled within nine on a jump shot by Nick Vier to make the score 23-14 but could get no closer for the duration of the game. Biggs beat the clock to end the half, swishing a jumper to give Pitt a 41-19 advantage after 20 minutes. All of Biggs’ 10 points came in the first half. Young started hot coming out of the locker room. He scored nine of Pitt’s first 13 points after halftime, strengthening the lead to 54-29. The teams traded baskets the rest of the way, with the reserves playing exclusively for the last five minutes. Pitt has off this week and doesn’t play again until Saturday against Maryland-Baltimore County at the Petersen Events Center.