No excuses: Pitt keeps winning

Following the injuries to key players Levance Fields and Mike Cook, two other Pitt players… Following the injuries to key players Levance Fields and Mike Cook, two other Pitt players were thrust into roles they weren’t accustomed to filling. The manner in which seniors Ronald Ramon and Keith Benjamin have answered the doubters is astounding.

Two and a half weeks ago, Pitt’s season was given up for dead by experts and fans alike after Fields broke a bone in his foot in the Panthers’ initial loss of the season at Dayton.

This came after losing the senior Cook for the season nine days earlier.

But Pitt has stormed back onto the national scene with wins in four of its past five games, capped by an enormous 69-60 win over top-10 ranked Georgetown Monday night.

The two remaining seniors recorded stellar games in the Georgetown triumph and could be assigned credit for saving the Panthers’ season.

Ramon and Benjamin each tallied 18 points in topping the Hoyas.

Ramon built that total with 3-pointers, while Benjamin knocked down free throws and a key jumper late in the game to put it away and made highlight reels with an acrobatic finish after a steal.

Even more impressive, the pair combined for only one turnover in the contest.

It wasn’t just the Georgetown game where the duo has excelled.

Since entering the starting lineup five games ago, Benjamin is averaging 17 points per game.

Over the same time frame, Ramon switched from shooting guard to point guard and has dished out 32 assists and only 11 turnovers.

“I’ve been looking for [my shot] a little bit more recently,” Ramon said after the Georgetown game. “But I still have to make sure I stay in the flow of the offense.”

The seniors have emerged as leaders in the locker room as well.

“In this locker room, nobody wants to lose, especially us seniors,” Benjamin said. “We lead, they follow, and it all comes together.”

Blair passes Hibbert test

Freshman center DeJuan Blair held his own against Big East counterpart Roy Hibbert on Monday, even while giving the Georgetown center 7 inches on the scale.

Blair outscored Hibbert, 15-12, while Hibbert earned the rebounding advantage, 10-9. Not bad for a freshman playing against a senior All-American candidate.

Blair also played mostly effective defense against the 7-foot-2-inch center.

“DeJuan battled hard all night,” Pitt coach Jamie Dixon said. “He was also very good at using his strengths, his feet and his quickness to his advantage defensively.”

“It was a good game against a very good player,” Blair said. “I was fortunate to be able to overplay him a couple times and get some steals.”

On the opposite side, Hibbert was quick to fault himself.

“I don’t think [Blair’s] body type really mattered,” Hibbert said. “I did not do a good job.”