Pitt blows out Robert Morris, Loyola

The No. 15-ranked Pitt men’s basketball team hosted Robert Morris on Wednesday and Loyola on… The No. 15-ranked Pitt men’s basketball team hosted Robert Morris on Wednesday and Loyola on Saturday at the Petersen Events Center. The Panthers recorded two wins, defeating both teams by more than 20 points, to move to 3-0 early in the season.

Pitt 83, Robert Morris 59

Robert Morris guard Maurice Carter knocked down four of five threes in the first half of Pitt’s 83-59 win Saturday, but not one of those three-pointers was his most important shot of the half.

With Pitt (3-0) leading 35-30 and less than two minutes on the game clock, Carter threw his arm out at Pitt guard Antonio Graves and gave him a shot to the arm.

“He smacked the ball out of my hands, [so] I kind of pushed him,” Carter said after the game.

The referees deemed the push worthy of a technical foul and Pitt’s Carl Krauser swished the two free throws allotted to Pitt.

But both sides saw the foul differently.

“I seen a little bit of Ron Artest and a little bit of just good Pitt basketball,” Krauser said. “We did feed off the technical foul.”

Following the foul, Ronald Ramon scored the final five points for Pitt to go into the half with a 42-30 lead. Ramon knocked down a three and converted a layup after Chevon Troutman stole the ball.

Ramon finished with eight points, struggling from the field and hitting only two of eight three-point shots.

“Thank God he didn’t shoot it well tonight,” Colonial head coach Mark Schmidt said.

The missed three-pointers did not hurt the Panthers on this day because they were strong in the paint, collecting 18 offensive rebounds, most of which led to 16 second-chance points.

“Offensive rebounds often lead to high percentage shots,” head coach Jamie Dixon said.

Leading the way was Chris Taft, who finished with six offensive rebounds and 21 points.

“He’s just really, really big,” Schmidt said, laughing. “He’s going to be a first-round pick; that should tell you what kind of player he is.”

The Colonials, after the half, closed the gap to four points, but their defense could not hold. The Panthers turned around and went on a 15-6 run to go ahead 59-46.

Two three-pointers, one by Krauser and one by Graves, highlighted Pitt’s 15-6 scoring run.

Following two defensive fouls on Christopher Gooden, Krauser moved around at the top of the three-point arc until he found an opening, set his feet and hit the three.

On the next Panther possession, Ronald Ramon faked the three-point shot from the corner and tossed the ball across to Graves, who didn’t pass up the opportunity, hitting a three-pointer and giving the Panthers a 58-46 lead.

Pitt 93, Loyola 57 (Md.)

Pitt jumped out to a 47-21 lead in the first half and cruised to a 36-point win over the Loyola Greyhounds.

Pitt started out the game with a 10-2 run, powered by a slam-dunk by Taft. On fast break, Troutman ran the court and passed across the paint to Taft, who took off and slammed the ball in the basket.

Pitt followed with several three-pointers, including two consecutive tres from John DeGroat, as the Panthers went on a 22-4 run to up the score to 39-13.

Pitt scored 24 fast-break points, initiated by Loyola turnovers.

“It’s fun making plays on fast breaks,” Graves said.

The Greyhounds (0-3) helped the Panthers’ cause by sending them to the free-throw line 16 times in the first half. Pitt converted 13 of the free throws.

Loyola also turned the ball over 11 times in the first half, leading to 10 more points for Pitt.

Troutman, Taft, Ramon, Graves and Yuri Demetris all finished with double-digits in scoring.

“We didn’t show any sense of unselfishness,” Dixon said. “That’s always a part of our game.”

Troutman led the pack with 17 points in his limited 15 minutes of play. He also pulled down six rebounds, shot five of eight from the floor and seven for seven from the charity stripe.

The Panthers will host St. Francis (Pa.) on Wednesday at 7 p.m. The game will follow the women’s game against Robert Morris. The Pitt double-header will tip off at 4 p.m.