Pitt uses tough defense to defeat Nittany Lions

The Pitt men’s basketball team used a stifling defense to hold the Penn State Nittany Lions… The Pitt men’s basketball team used a stifling defense to hold the Penn State Nittany Lions to their lowest output against the Panthers since 1952 in its 64-37 victory at the Petersen Events Center on Saturday.

Pitt (6-0) forced 10 Nittany Lion turnovers and held them to 11 points in the first half. The stingy Panther defense, which forced 16 turnovers overall, blocked eight shots and came up with five steals in the game, allowed the offense to jump out to a 12-2 lead.

Senior guard Julius Page got Pitt on the board with a jumper, which was followed by a layup by senior center Toree Morris on its next possession. Morris scored again on the Panthers’ next possession, hitting a fadeaway jump shot that put them up 6-0.

Penn State (3-2) scored its first basket when center Jan Jagla put in a layup, which was followed by fast-break layup by Pitt senior forward Jaron Brown, and that’s when Pitt’s defense went to work.

“When you make a couple of shots early, that changes things,” Pitt head coach Jamie Dixon said. “We came out shooting well and took them out of things.”

On the Nittany Lions’ next possession, Panthers’ junior forward Chevon Troutman came up with a steal that led to Morris’ sixth point in less than three minutes. Troutman then blocked a Nittany Lion shot, leading to guard Carl Krauser knocking down two free throws after being fouled.

Penn State’s Deforest Riley-Smith hit a three-pointer on its next possession that was followed by a 9-0 run by the Panthers. Brown led off the run by tipping in a loose ball that hung on the rim, and Page hit a three-pointer. Troutman and Krauser followed Page’s three-pointer with back-to-back fast-break buckets, which put Pitt ahead 21-5.

“If we can keep the other team from scoring, then we can turn our defense into offense,” Brown said.

Jagla finally broke Pitt’s streak of nine unanswered points with a two-pointer with 12 minutes and one second left in the first half, but it would be the last basket that the Nittany Lions would make until two minutes and 48 seconds were left in the half.

“Everybody played good, collective team defense,” Krauser said. “It’s better than scoring when you lock down on defense.”

During that time period, the Panthers went on an 11-0 run, which saw forward Chris Taft score four points, Krauser hit a three-pointer, and Brown and with Page each contribute a basket to increase their lead to 32-7.

Penn State guard Ben Luber broke the team’s scoreless streak with a two-pointer, and Pitt ended the half on a 7-4 run that made the score 39-11.

“We wanted to tune up on our defense,” Page said. “Obviously, we did that in the first half.”

In the second half, the Nittany Lions were able to score 26 points, but the game was essentially over at the end of the first half, since the Panthers scored as many points as they would need to win the game.

“We’re very happy with how our guys played,” Dixon said. “I think we did a nice job of taking them out of their offense.”

Brown and Krauser led all scorers with 14 points apiece. Krauser also contributed seven rebounds, with six coming on defense. Taft led Pitt with nine rebounds, and he also contributed the game’s second-highest point total, with 12. Jagla led Penn State with 11 points and seven rebounds.

Pitt is next in action on Dec. 13, when it takes on Youngstown State at the Pete. Tip-off is scheduled for 7 p.m.