Pitt basketball reaches as high as No. 2 in the polls

With six games during the winter break, Pitt’s men’s basketball team looked to continue to… With six games during the winter break, Pitt’s men’s basketball team looked to continue to fatten its nonconference record and boost its ranking before heading into Big East play.

The Panthers compiled a 5-1 record and climbed as high as No. 2 in the polls, matching the school record for highest ranking set by the 1987-1988 squad.

But after a New Year’s Eve loss to Georgia, Pitt fell back to No. 6 in the AP poll before opening the conference schedule against Notre Dame.

With four wins at home, Pitt extended its home winning streak against nonconference opponents to 24 games and remained undefeated in the Petersen Events Center.

Pitt 89, Southeastern Louisiana 55

With finals out of the way, the Panthers took control of the game early before heading to the locker room at halftime with a 42-26 lead. Julius Page led the way, scoring 15 of his team high 17 points in the first 20 minutes.

Pitt continued its dominance in the second half, holding the Lions to just 33 percent shooting from the field on the way to the 34-point victory.

“It’s difficult to play the game coming out of finals,” head coach Ben Howland said. “But this is good for us.”

The Lions’ Amir Abdur-Rahim led all scorers with 18 points, while Chevon Troutman added 14 and Ontario Lett chipped in with 10 points and 10 rebounds for Pitt.

Pitt 69, Ohio State 49

Pitt passed its first serious challenge of the season and ran its record to 7-0 with a 69-49 victory over Ohio State Dec. 18.

Despite playing with a sprained right ankle, Page led the Panthers on both offense and defense, putting up 18 points to lead all scorers and holding Ohio State star guard Brent Darby to one field goal on nine attempts, for a total of three points.

“He was forcing a lot of things and wasn’t getting the open looks he is used to,” Pitt guard Brandin Knight said.

Knight, who entered the game shooting just 30 percent from the free-throw line, made six-of-eight shots from the stripe and finished with 17 points.

Donatas Zavackas added 10 points for the Panthers.

Sean Connolly led Ohio State with 15 points in the loss. No other Ohio State player reached double figures in scoring as the team shot just 16-of-50 from the floor.

Pitt 87, Rhode Island 71

Venturing out on the road for just the second time this season, the Panthers faced the Rams in front of the first ever sellout crowd at the Ryan Center.

With the crowd coming out to see a top five team, Knight made sure not to disappoint.

Knight scored a season high 22 points, including five-of-nine from behind the three-point line, despite taking some verbal abuse from the crowd.

“I heard ‘Brevin’s better,'” Knight said, referring to his older brother. “Of course he is, he’s in the NBA.”

Jaron Brown recorded a double double, scoring 11 points and grabbing 10 rebounds, while Lett added 14 points of his own.

Dustin Hellenga led the Rams with 17 points, all of them coming from three-point shots. As a team, Rhode Island shot just 31 percent from the field and were outrebounded, 45-27.

“As long as we play good defense on the road, we don’t always have to shoot well,” Knight said. “We’re targeted on everyone’s list, we just have to take it in stride.”

Pitt 65, George Mason 41

Brown dropped in 13 of Pitt’s 65 points and Julius Page pulled down nine rebounds as the Panthers allowed a season low 41 points in their defeat of George Mason Dec. 28.

The Patriots shot just 25.9 percent from the field, making only 15 buckets on 58 attempts.

“I don’t know who our shooting coach is but we’ve got to fire him,” George Mason head coach Jim Larranaga said.

Though Brown was the only Pitt player to reach double figures in scoring, Troutman had nine points in his 14 minutes of play, and Donatas Zavackas, Toree Morris and Page each chipped in eight.

The win came despite continued offensive struggles from Knight, who didn’t pick up his first field goal until there were fewer than five minutes remaining in the game. He finished with seven points, shooting two-of-seven from the field and missing all five of his shots from behind the arc.

Knight did contribute five steals and 10 assists in the victory.

Georgia 79, Pitt 67

The Panthers’ winning streak ended at nine games on New Year’s Eve as they lost their final nonconference road game of the season to the Georgia Bulldogs, 79-67.

Pitt’s only lead in the game came after Brown scored the game’s first basket. The Bulldogs led by as many as 17 points in the first half.

The Panthers closed the gap to no fewer than six points before ultimately losing by 12.

Georgia’s Ezra Williams finished with 20 points to lead all scorers, and Jarvis Hayes added 18 for the Bulldogs in the win.

Lett and Carl Krauser each scored 14 points to lead the Panthers.

Knight’s shooting woes continued as he made four of his 17 shots and two-of-10 from three-point range to finish with 10 points.

A pair of free throws accounted for both of Julius Page’s points, as he was unsuccessful on all six of his field goal attempts.

If not for the loss, Pitt, which entered the contest occupying the second ranking in both major national polls, might have reached the number one ranking for the first time in school history.

“As great as it would be to be ranked No. 1 in December, what’s really important is come March and April, for everybody,” Howland said.

Pitt 85, Robert Morris 49

Behind Troutman’s career high 24 points and a double double by Brown, the Panthers knocked off Robert Morris for the 22nd straight time.

Coming off its first loss of the season, Pitt was eager to get back on track. The defense held the Colonials to just 13 points on six-of-36 shooting in the first half, and Robert Morris was never able to get back into the game.

Despite shooting 29 percent from the free-throw line and 9 percent from behind the three-point line, Pitt was able to dominate the smaller Colonials. The Panthers outscored the Colonials 70-22 in the paint and outrebounded them 51-25.

Lett chipped in with 18 points and seven rebounds. DaMarcus Ellis and Maurice Carter led Robert Morris with 11 points each.

“I’m glad to be back on the winning track,” Howland said. “Now we move on to the most important part of the schedule. There are no more easy games.”