Check out Photo Editor Pete Madia’s slideshow of the big win over Georgetown

Pitt has… Check out Photo Editor Pete Madia’s slideshow of the big win over Georgetown

Pitt has awakened from what was originally deemed its nightmare.

Ronald Ramon and Keith Benjamin each scored 18 points and DeJuan Blair had 15 points and nine rebounds to help No. 15 Pitt (15-2, 3-1 Big East) upset No. 5 Georgetown, 69-60, at the Petersen Events Center last night. It was the third win in a row for the Panthers, who are now 4-1 since starters Mike Cook and Levance Fields suffered critical injuries.

“It was just one of those games when we just kept fighting,” Pitt coach Jamie Dixon said. “[After the injuries], we really came together and said we had to get better in certain areas. We have no excuses.”

Ramon scored in double digits for the second consecutive contest, shrugging off doubts about his new starting role at point guard and the health of both of his shoulders.

“My teammates kept telling me to look for my shots,” Ramon said. “Things that have been going on here, with guys going down, it’s something we have on our backs. Teams feel like they have a better chance to beat us. We know that we’ve got the players we need to go out and compete.”

With 3:57 in the first half, Ramon nailed a step-back, fadeaway 3-pointer over the outstretched arms of Georgetown’s 7-foot-2 center Roy Hibbert with one second on the shot clock. It was the kind of shot that silences the crowd when it’s released, only to resuscitate the Petersen Events Center faithful a split-second later when it splashes through the nylon.

Ramon said the Oakland Zoo’s counting down helped him decipher when to release his shot, which, when it went in, gave Pitt a 20-15 lead.

“I think they took a key from somebody because all the animals were out in the Zoo tonight,” Ramon said, prompting laughter from both his teammates and the media.

But scoring wasn’t all Benjamin and Ramon needed to do on the perimeter – the duo had to limit one of the Big East’s best 3-point-shooting teams, and they did.

The Hoyas hit just three of their 20 3-point attempts, by far their worst distance-shooting performance of the season.

“They’re a good defensive team,” Georgetown coach John Thompson III said. “They did a good job protecting the 3-point line. They have for years, and they did again today.”

Blair and Young stemmed Pitt’s interior defensive effort. Blair, Pitt’s 6-foot-7 center, gave away seven inches to Hibbert, who came into the game averaging close to 13 points. The focus all weekend was Blair’s height deficiencies, but Blair used his 265-pound frame and unusual quickness to work around his obvious height disadvantage.

Hibbert finished with 12 points, but six of them came from the foul line.

“We talked about [DeJuan] using his strengths,” Dixon said. “It’s all about playing early post defense, beating [Hibbert] to spots, not allowing him to get offensive boards.”

Georgetown’s second leading scorer, DaJuan Summers, was held scoreless on 0-of-7 shooting. He fouled out with 10 seconds to play.

“Down there they hold him up as the next Jeff Green,” Benjamin said, referring to the former star Hoyas forward. “Sam [Young] just started it by being physical, then Gilbert [Brown] got him and did a good job, then Tyrell [Biggs] got him and did a good job. We needed for [Summers] not to have a big game for us to be successful tonight.”

Ramon ignited Pitt’s 15-4 run to begin the second half with his third 3 of the game. Benjamin swished another 3 19 seconds later to extend Pitt’s lead to 34-26.

A thunderous, one-handed slam by Young inspired the raucous crowd even more, and it propelled the Panthers to a 38-28 lead. But Pitt’s biggest lead to that point, 42-30, wavered when the Hoyas appeared to be making their version of the common top-tier-team run.

Georgetown forward Patrick Ewing came crashing down the lane for a putback dunk, and scored a layup 34 seconds later to cut Pitt’s lead to 47-44.

That’s when Pitt made its biggest move of the night.

“We had a few timeouts, so we used one during that run,” Dixon said.

Dixon used the timeout to reinforce the Panthers’ game plan – push the ball up the floor quickly and take good shots.

An open 3-pointer by Young bounced right into the hands of the weak-side rebounder Blair, who glanced in his putback off the glass and earned a trip to the free-throw line in the process.

After Blair sank his foul shot, Benjamin came up with a loose ball on the defensive end, sprinted coast to coast and nailed a floating, twisting, turning, over-the-shoulder and-one layup that sent the crowd into a frenzy.

The run stifled Georgetown’s last effort at a comeback, and Pitt shook off its recent free-throw shooting troubles to seal the game.

“It’s been about preparation,” Dixon said. “It’s been about our practices. We’re still getting better.”