Pitt holds on, defeats Colonials, 67-53

At North Allegheny High School in the summer, Pitt basketball players mix it up with players… At North Allegheny High School in the summer, Pitt basketball players mix it up with players from other local college programs. Many of the athletes in the summer league play at Robert Morris University in Moon Township, Pa.

The familiarity of the players could not have been more apparent Wednesday night when Robert Morris took on the Panthers at the Petersen Events Center. The Panther growl on the loudspeaker did not irk the Colonials, nor did the 11,131 in attendance quiet Pitt’s Northeast Conference foe.

The only thing to break the current of the resistant Robert Morris was 7-foot senior Aaron Gray. And that was all the Panthers needed.

Gray’s 21 points, 15 rebounds and three blocks propelled Pitt (No. 2 AP/No. 3 USA Today/ESPN) to its 67-53 victory and a 7-0 record in the 2006-2007 season. It is the eighth-best start in Pitt basketball history.

“I thought we played very well tonight against a very good team,” Pitt head coach Jamie Dixon said. “I wasn’t at all surprised at how they played. They’re competitive kids who work very hard.”

Leading 45-42 with 11 minutes left, senior guard Antonio Graves snatched a loose ball and sprinted down the left. Running with him, Gray kept his space and Graves found him all alone on the right block.

Gray flushed down a two-handed dunk and capped the 6-0 run that separated the two clubs.

“I thought Aaron was great,” Dixon said. “He was really good tonight — defensively and offensively. He was diving on the floor and getting long rebounds. When a 7-foot, 275-pound guy is working that hard, it’s great for us.”

Robert Morris trailed just 35-30 at halftime and took a 42-41 lead with about 13 minutes remaining in the game. But the Panthers sprinted to the final buzzer, outscoring the Colonials, 26-11.

“[Robert Morris was] obviously very enthusiastic,” Gray said. “Coach Dixon did a great job of pulling us back together, and when we got back to playing Pitt basketball, we took over again.”

Pitt won the battle of the boards, out-rebounding Robert Morris, 36-26. Nine offensive rebounds helped the Panthers score 32 points in the paint, as Pitt’s size advantage took over.

“[Pitt has] great size and really locked down the paint,” Robert Morris head coach Mark Schmidt said. “You pretty much have to shoot 50 percent and hope Gray doesn’t kill you — but he did tonight.”

Pitt shot 51 percent from inside the 3-point line, but hit just two of 17 from beyond the arc. But Dixon pointed to the solid aspects of the rest of Pitt’s play that made up for the struggles.

“Those [3-pointers] were all open and good shots,” Dixon said. “We will keep running plays to get those looks and they will fall. But the fact that we didn’t hit those open looks and still won by 14 points against that quality of a team just says how well we played in other parts of the game.”

Senior forward Levon Kendall hauled in seven rebounds, four of which were offensive boards, and tallied 10 points in 30 minutes. Fellow starter Mike Cook dropped 11 points on perfect 3-for-3 shooting.

Dixon stressed the importance of his team’s defensive effort, however, noting the team defense that limited Robert Morris’ leader scorer A.J. Jackson to just six points on 2-for-13 shooting.

“[Kendall and sophomore forward Tyrell Biggs] played great defense on Jackson all night,” Dixon said. “The kid averages 24 points a game and we knew we had to focus on him. We forced him to take shots he didn’t want to take, and limited his trips to the free-throw line.”

Pitt now leads the all-time series with Robert Morris, 26-0, including a 5-0 record at the Petersen Events Center.

“[Robert Morris has] a great program and look like they can win their conference,” Dixon said. “We were able to limit their best player and we did the right things to win the game.”

Pitt returns to action Sunday when it travels to Auburn for a 3 p.m. tip-off.