Panthers offense reappears in win

By his standards, Pitt forward Sam Young struggled the past four games. The 6-foot-6-inch… By his standards, Pitt forward Sam Young struggled the past four games. The 6-foot-6-inch junior averaged 13.5 points a game in that stretch, shooting just 36 percent from the field.

Young, who was third in the Big East in scoring at the end of January, slumped to fifth in scoring in the Big East. He started expressing his frustration openly in his 7-of-21 performance at Connecticut on Feb. 2, where he tossed his arms in the air and shook his head with disbelief on several occasions when he thought he was fouled.

The cooling period ended last night. Young had 14 points on 6-of-9 shooting by halftime. The hybrid forward helped Pitt to a 42-37 lead with his six rebounds and activity around the basket.

He finished the night with 22 points, making 10 of his 14 shots, none of which were 3-pointers.

“I was looking for high-percentage shots,” Young said. “I came out and got a couple easy buckets and got into a rhythm.”

Young’s success in the paint forced Providence’s defense to collapse into the lane and helped point guard Ronald Ramon operate in free space on the perimeter. The 6-foot-1-inch senior scored all 15 of his points from 3-point range.

“Guys have confidence in my shot,” Ramon said. “It feels good that we’re passing the ball well again. We talked about it for the last few games, and we did a good job at [moving the ball].”

Providence coach Tim Welsh seemed exasperated at times by Pitt’s offense. Young’s battery mate, center DeJuan Blair, had 15 points and seven rebounds, and Keith Benjamin helped Ramon on the perimeter with 10 points.

“They’ve got a lot of answers,” Welsh said. “Even against a zone, they do a great job of spreading the floor. They’re well balanced.”

Fields sits

Injured Pitt point guard Levance Fields did not dress for last night’s game. He did not participate in the team’s pregame warmups.

The 5-foot-10 junior sat on the bench in his sweats. He was cleared to practice last Thursday and practiced through the weekend with the team. Pitt coach Jamie Dixon said it was a day-by-day process for Fields.

“We’ll see how he feels [today],” Dixon said.

Ramon added that his backcourt mate wouldn’t return until he could give 100 percent.

“Levance is a competitor,” Ramon said. “He’s not going to come out there and give 90 percent.”

Catching up to a legend

Dixon is now one win away from tying Everett Case’s record for wins in the first four seasons as a Division I coach. Case, a Hall of Fame coach at North Carolina State from 1946 to 1964, won 107 games in his first four seasons with the Wolf Pack. Case coached North Carolina State to 10 conference championships and 377 wins.