Pitt-Johnstown goes down

If last night’s Pitt vs. Pitt-Johnstown game was supposed to be a classic David vs. Goliath… If last night’s Pitt vs. Pitt-Johnstown game was supposed to be a classic David vs. Goliath contest, then David forgot his slingshot.

Pitt proved its status as the bigger, faster, stronger team with a dominating 97-56 win over its Division-II opponent in the 2007-08 season’s first exhibition contest at the Petersen Events Center.

“I think it was pretty much as expected for our first exhibition,” Pitt head coach Jamie Dixon said. “We need to improve in a lot of areas, but it’s Oct. 31.”

It took some time for the Panthers to get going, but once they did, the scoring came in droves. Despite Pitt-Johnstown’s struggling shooting, Pitt crawled to a 26-15 lead early.

But a 23-0 run to end the first half slammed the door on the overmatched Mountain Cats and squashed any early hopes for an upset in the making.

The run, highlighted by two one-handed dunks by Pitt wing Mike Cook, helped Pitt take a 49-16 lead into the break.

The exhibition was intended to be a warm-up for both clubs, and Dixon experimented with numerous rotations throughout the contest. His starting lineup – Levance Fields, Ronald Ramon, Mike Cook, Sam Young and DeJuan Blair – played close to 25 minutes together.

Fields led the offensive charge, scoring 13 points and dealing five assists. The 5-10 point guard consistently pushed the tempo of the game, getting many of his own points in transition. The Panthers scored 28 points off the fast break

“We’re looking to fast break every chance we get,” Fields said. “We don’t want to rush anything, but if we get open looks, we’re going to take them.”

There are some questions about the Panthers’ interior coming into the season and, despite the inferior competition, Young, Blair and 6-9 Tyrell Biggs showed some positives in the paint.

The freshman center Blair scored 10 points and grabbed seven rebounds. The 6-foot, 7-inch Pittsburgh native stirred the crowd with an emphatic rejection of Pitt-Johnstown guard Andy Byer’s floater with 1:47 left in the first half.

“I was a little nervous [about starting],” Blair said, “but Levance and the rest of the team made me feel comfortable.”

Young had 17 points and nine rebounds, spending the entire night solely at the power forward position. The 6-6 junior looked healthy and fresh, rejecting a layup a minute after Blair’s block and displaying some touch from the perimeter.

Biggs, who has only practiced at power forward in the preseason, spelled Young, and showed some range with a nice touch from 17 and 18 feet. The 6-9 junior tallied nine points and six rebounds in 19 minutes.

“[Biggs] is going to play a lot of minutes,” Dixon said.

Freshman Gary McGhee provided a spark off the bench at center, sharing time with junior-college transfer Cassin Diggs. McGhee caught passes at every height at least once in his debut, and contributed four points and five rebounds.

“The big guys did some nice things. They made some mistakes but that’s to be expected. The key is how they learn from it. They’re receptive to coaching and they want to get better.”

Pitt-Johnstown, which finished 21-9 last season, gave the Panthers some offensive troubles early, sealing off the perimeter on several possessions. On offense, though, the Mountain Cats’ missed opportunities stacked up, eventually causing deficits as big as 44.

Chris Gilliam – a 6-foot, 7-inch center who averaged 17 points last year – paced the Mountain Cats with 23 points.

Gilliam provided the Panthers with their first look at a post-scoring threat. There were some instances where the newcomers appeared fooled by Gilliam’s movement between the blocks, but the big man received little help from his teammates.

“We have a lot of things to do [on defense],” Blair said. “We weren’t moving with him. “We can do a whole lot better. Now we know that a Division II school, [Gilliam] can score on us. We just have to get better.”