Men’s hoops flies over Hawks

Sam Young tapped the ball loose, streaked down the court and launched himself into the air. … Sam Young tapped the ball loose, streaked down the court and launched himself into the air.

The crowd looked on as Young came down with an explosive, one-handed dunk, extending Pitt’s early lead and shattering all hopes of an upset by the Indiana, Pa., Crimson Hawks.

The Panthers used strong man-to-man defense and a steady offensive rhythm to power their way past Division-II IUP in a lopsided 83-31 decision on Sunday night at the Petersen Events Center – a game in which Pitt never trailed.

“I was very happy with how we played,” Pitt coach Jamie Dixon said.

Young, a junior forward, erupted immediately for the Panthers, scoring all 16 of his points in the first half and connecting on 7 of 8 shots from the field to propel the Panthers, who open their regular season schedule on Friday when they host Houston Baptist at 7 p.m., to a 40-14 lead at the half.

Dixon said he was excited with the play of his forward.

“Sam was very good early,” Dixon said. “He’s got a knack for scoring.”

Young, who was bothered by knee problems throughout last season, said he’s now healthy and expects to be a key contributor on a talented Panthers offense this season.

“My knees are 100 percent better,” Young said. “Last year I couldn’t jump off two feet. This year I’m jumping off one again.”

Young was limited to just four minutes in the second half, but the Panthers didn’t stall, continuing to dominate on both sides of the floor.

The Crimson Hawks couldn’t match Pitt’s interior strength, relying heavily on their perimeter play -something Pitt countered with a stingy defense that frustrated them all night.

The size and strength advantage of the Panthers was also evident on the boards, and Pitt out-rebounded the Crimson Hawks 52-17.

On offense, Pitt used quick passing and off-the-ball movement to work the ball down low to freshman phenom DeJuan Blair and junior Tyrell Biggs.

Highly touted out of nearby Schenley High School, Blair has lived up to the hype thus far, earning himself a double-double with 12 points and 12 rebounds.

Biggs also drew some attention, and ended the night perfect from the field, knocking down all five shots he took to register 10 points.

Biggs once again showed a smooth touch with his mid-range jumper, something he said he and his coaches focused on in the offseason.

“I worked on it a lot,” Biggs said.

Levance Fields, Keith Benjamin, Ronald Ramon and Brad Wanamaker all split time at the point guard position, each being effective throughout the game.

Although Fields is the only true point in the group, the Panthers expect to get production from each of the aforementioned guards.

Pitt turned in a total of 19 assists, continuing its reputation as a solid passing team.

Pitt finished eighth in the nation last year in assists per game.

“Our passing was very good,” Dixon said. “I like the depth we’ve had.”

Along with the ball movement, Pitt’s perimeter defense also looked promising.

After finishing last season ranked 297th nationally in steals per game, Pitt came through with 13 steals on Sunday, more than twice its average last year.

Dixon said his team is improving every day in practice, but still has a lot of work to do.

“You never feel you’re as good as you want to be,” Dixon said. “But we’re getting there.”

Wanamaker, a freshman from Roman Catholic H.S. in Philadelphia, led the Panthers in both assists and steals with four each, while registering five points in 17 minutes.

But with just under five minutes remaining, Pitt fans got a bit of a scare when the promising guard came down awkwardly on his ankle and had to leave the game.

Dixon said he didn’t hear anything big from the trainers, and didn’t anticipate the injury to require X-rays.

Indiana failed to produce any double-digit scorers during the game, while Pitt had three.

Every player on Pitt’s roster scored at least one point.

Indiana’s head coach Joe Lombardi, who worked as an assistant on Pitt’s staff for three years before leaving in 2006, said the game was a good experience for him and his team, despite being outplayed.

“Once the weather clears here I really think it will be positive,” Lombardi said. “We’ll be better off.”?

Lombardi also said it was great to come back and see the players he helped recruit and coach.

“It was neat to see the players. I’m happy for them,” he said.

“I got a lot of smiles.”