Seniors lead Pitt to win

Three days after looking like anything but a team that had dominated the Big East for most… Three days after looking like anything but a team that had dominated the Big East for most of the season, Pitt rebounded by getting what it needed from the players it needed the most – its upperclassmen – on senior night.

Seniors Aaron Gray and Levon Kendall combined for 24 points and 22 rebounds in their final home game, and Pitt broke out of its recent shooting funk, hitting 60 percent of its shots and putting five players in double figures, to pace a 80-66 win over West Virginia last night.

“It was great to see the seniors all play so well, and that’s what senior night is supposed to be, getting a big win against a team from just down the road,” head coach Jamie Dixon said. “We’re right where we want to be, playing for first place, and I’m just so proud of our seniors once again.”

The win gave the Panthers (25-5 overall, 12-3 Big East) their first season sweep of the Mountaineers since the 2002-03 season, and it also locked up a first-round bye in next week’s Big East Tournament held in New York City.

“It’s been such a long road, all four years and our team is in such a great position now,” Gray, who nearly left early for the NBA Draft last year, said. “I don’t regret my decision to come back for my senior year at all. This is my family now, and I’m so glad I got to have this experience with them.”

Pitt has to be glad he came back, too, especially when it came to going inside against the Mountaineers’ active 1-3-1 zone to create easier shots. After shooting below 36 percent in four of their last five games, the Panthers hit 29 of their 48 attempts from the floor and the seniors had a large hand in that.

Gray and Kendall scored more than half of Pitt’s first half points and then accounted for the first six points of the second half, sparking a key 9-0 run that put Pitt into the lead for good.

“As you can tell, I’m kind of losing my voice,” Gray said afterwards with a smile. “I think that’s because of the halftime speech I gave. The guys did a great job of responding.”

Gray, who recorded his 13th double-double of the season, got it started with two free throws and then had an offensive put-back right out of halftime. Kendall hit a shot and then sophomore Levance Fields hit a 3-pointer from dead away and suddenly, Pitt had built a seven-point lead.

Dixon’s team knew better than to enjoy any kind of lead when playing the Mountaineers, though. West Virginia, which ranks fourth in the nation in 3-pointers made per game, stayed within striking distance almost exclusively because of its ability to shoot the 3-point shot. A couple of 3s and then a wide-open dunk allowed the Mountaineers to close to within 49-48 with nine minutes to go.

Once again, though, Kendall provided the answer for Pitt.

With the Mountaineers (20-8, 8-7) threatening to take the lead, he grabbed a key defensive rebound and drew a foul. After hitting both his free throws, he added another rebound to his total on the other end, leading to a Pitt 3-pointer that pushed the lead back to 54-48. West Virginia would get no closer than three the rest of the way as the shots stopped falling for John Belein’s team. The Mountaineers would finish 11-for-33 from behind the 3-point line while Pitt went an efficient eight-for-16.

It took Pitt a while to pull away after the teams played a seesaw affair in the first half. Every time one hit a shot, the other seemed to immediately respond. Even when a quick 9-0 run left the Panthers behind, 27-23, with just over four minutes left in the first half, senior Antonio Graves and junior Ronald Ramon hit back-to-back 3s to pull Pitt ahead. West Virginia put together the last run of the half, taking a 32-29 lead into the locker room.

The offense slowed, though, and Pitt proved to have too much inside for a perimeter-oriented West Virginia team. Gray would end up with 12 points and 13 rebounds and Kendall 12 and nine on the night as Pitt ended the game with decided advantages in rebounding (38-21) and points in the paint (28-18), leading to its third straight win in the series.

“It was great, senior night is a memory. We came out with so much energy in warm-ups and then when the actual game started, we lost it a bit,” Gray said. “We got on each other at halftime, and we came out and responded and played real well in the second half.”

Pitt will close out the regular season Saturday at Marquette, which beat Pitt 77-74 last month.