Zavackas helps No. 4 Pitt defeat Penn State

STATE COLLEGE, Pa. – If he had a choice, Donatas Zavackas would prefer to not be the forgotten… STATE COLLEGE, Pa. – If he had a choice, Donatas Zavackas would prefer to not be the forgotten man in the Panther’s offensive game plan.

But Saturday, Zavackas stepped into the spotlight and showed why he should be considered one of Pitt’s stars, contributing 20 points to help the Panthers to an 82-60 win over Penn State.

“I like to think I’m a star, maybe,” Zavackas joked. “I’m glad to be playing this role. If the focus is on Brandin [Knight] and Julius [Page], I can sneak in from behind and get my points.”

“Zavackas is like an X factor,” Penn State head coach Jerry Dunn said. “You’re concerned about [Knight and Page] and he goes unnoticed at times. We just didn’t do enough to bother him.”

Zavackas connected on six of seven shots from the field, including four-for-four from behind the three-point line, as Pitt moved to 5-0 for the third consecutive season. The Nittany Lions fell to 0-5, their worst start to a season since 1931.

The Panthers shot over 51 percent from the floor as five players scored in double figures. Julius Page scored 14 points and Chevon Troutman poured in all of his 10 points in the first half, while Jaron Brown and Toree Morris added 10 points each.

Sharif Chambliss led Penn State with 16 points and DeForrest Riley added 14, including four-of-seven from three, and Jan Jagla scored 12 points and grabbed 5 rebounds.

“We have a lot of weapons and we’re a good team,” Pitt head coach Ben Howland said. “You can’t concentrate on one or two guys.”

The Panthers jumped out to the early lead, going up by seven after Page hit a three and Zavackas made two free throws.

But Penn State hung with Pitt, going on a 9-4 run and cutting the lead to two at 16-14 with 11:05 to go in the half.

Both teams battled back and forth for the remainder of the half, with the Panthers going up by as many as nine points and Penn State pulling to within four with less than five minutes left before halftime.

The Panthers scored nine of the next 11 points to finish off the half and take a 38-27 lead entering halftime.

“It was probably one of the better first halves we’ve played,” Dunn said. “We shot with confidence, we continued to run our offense and made shots.”

The teams traded baskets to open the second half before Zavackas went on a scoring spree.

With 17:11 left in the game, Riley hit a wide-open three from the corner to pull Penn State within eight at 34-42.

But the Nittany Lions would not get any closer, as Zavackas took a pass from Knight at the top of the key and sank his second three-pointer of the game.

Penn State then cut the lead to nine on a layup by Robert Summers, but two more three-pointers by Zavackas and a layup by Knight put the Panthers up 53-36 with 13:50 left to play.

“I hung around the three-point line, seeing if I can get an open shot,” Zavackas said. “I took advantage of my opportunities and I made it.”

“[Zavackas] knows where to go to get open looks,” Page said. “If you leave him open too long, he’s going to gain confidence.”

Riley hit another three and Chambliss made two free throws to pull Penn State within 13.

But the Panthers countered with a 20-8 run, highlighted by an alley-oop pass from Knight to Page and a three-pointer by Page to give Pitt its largest lead at 74-49 with four minutes left.

“There were two things that really hurt us: turnovers and not guarding Zavackas,” Dunn said. “That really hurt us after he hit those threes.”

Pitt held the Nittany Lions to just 44 percent shooting from the field and forced Penn State into 20 turnovers.

“This was a good win for us,” Howland said. “We knew we would get a real challenge out of Penn State. This is a hard place to play and that’s why it feels so good to know [we won].”