Pitt tops city rival Duquesne, 82-67

Despite some pregame jitters and nervousness about playing in a new home, Pitt was able to… Despite some pregame jitters and nervousness about playing in a new home, Pitt was able to overcome a sloppy first half to beat cross-town rival Duquesne, 82-67 Saturday night.

The game marked the first regular season contest ever played in the Petersen Events Center and the Panthers had been looking forward to it for awhile.

“I couldn’t wait for this day to come,” Julius Page said. “We’ve been practicing forever. I was nervous about this game.”

“It’s always tough to play in what you know is the historic first game,” Pitt head coach Ben Howland said. “We were anxious and didn’t execute and play well in the first half.”

After shooting just 33 percent in the first half, including three-of-12 from behind the three-point line, the Panthers bounced back to hit almost 53 percent of their shots in the second half.

Page led all scorers with 17 points on just five-of-11 shooting and grabbed six rebounds. Brandin Knight added 13 points while both Donatas Zavackas and Carl Krauser, making his first appearance as a Panther, chipped in with 11 points each.

For the Dukes, Jimmy Tricco had 13 points while Brad Midgley added 13 points off the bench.

While Pitt stumbled out of the blocks, the Dukes came out firing on all cylinders.

Tricco put Duquesne on the board first, converting on a shot from the low post. Page picked up the first foul of the game on the play and Tricco made the free throw for a 3-0 Duquesne lead.

The Panthers answered right back, as Jaron Brown found Ontario Lett for Pitt’s first basket. Tricco fouled Lett on the shot, but the free throw was no good and Duquesne grabbed the rebound.

Both teams alternated baskets throughout the entire first half, as neither side could pull ahead by more than six.

“We were pressing early, missing easy shots,” Knight said. “We just had to get the jitters worked out.”

Duquesne went up 7-2 following a Ron Dokes layup, but the Panthers came back, taking their first lead of the game at 12-9 after a three-pointer by Page.

But the Dukes answered back, taking a 15-14 lead following a Simplice Njoya basket with nine minutes and 16 seconds left in the half.

The Panthers regained the lead on a three by Zavackas, which started a 14-6 Pitt run and gave the Panthers their largest advantage of the first half.

Again Duquesne responded, scoring the next seven points, grabbing a 29-28 lead with a 1:36 left in the half. But after a layup and free throw by Lett and two free throws by Yuri Demetris, Pitt took a 33-29 lead into halftime.

“At halftime, we were telling the guys that we probably played the worst half we were going to play all year,” Knight said about a half in which the Panthers turned the ball over 11 times, including six by Krauser. “We needed to turn it up on defense and get back on the boards.”

Dokes converted a fast-break layup to open up the scoring in the second half and Page answered at the other end with a jump shot. The Dukes continued running, putting in another fast-break basket, this time by Njoya.

Knight responded with a layup, but was forced to the bench after picking up his third foul.

With Knight on the sideline, Page took control of the Panthers’ offense, scoring Pitt’s next seven points to start the Panthers on a 10-0 run.

“Julius really got going on a nice spurt,” Howland said. “He got our offense going in the second half.”

“After the first half was over, I knew I had to step to the occasion,” Page said. “I was settling for jump shots and I knew I had to attack the basket more and be more aggressive.”

Jaron Brown, who had nine points on four-of-eight shooting, kept the run going by hitting the first of two free throws. Toree Morris grabbed the rebound after Brown’s miss and slammed it home to put Pitt up 11 with 15:36 to go in the half.

After Chevon Troutman made two free throws, Tricco tried to stop the bleeding for the Dukes with a layup, but a three by Knight and a layup by Zavackas put Pitt up 54-39.

Back-to-back three-pointers by Bryant McAllister and Tricco pulled Duquesne within nine, starting a 10-0 run that cut Pitt’s lead to just five with 11 minutes left to play.

“We let them back in the game by turning the ball over or taking quick shots,” Knight said. “If we didn’t play well, things could have been different in the final 10 minutes.”

But then the well dried up for Duquesne, as the Dukes made just one field goal over the next five minutes. The Panthers took advantage, going on a 20-7 run to put the game out of reach.

“We responded at times well,” Duquesne head coach Danny Nee said. “Pitt turned it up in the second half. They go to another level.”

“We strive to win every game and there are a lot of expectations,” Howland said. “It’s just all the old cliches that no one likes to hear.”