James Robinson ends an ugly streak for Pitt

Before Tuesday’s contest against Wake Forest began, Pitt head coach Jamie Dixon challenged point guard James Robinson.

Dixon told Robinson, who had been struggling over the past three games, that he wanted 11 assists from the senior, to match his total against Virginia Tech on Jan. 31.

“In that regard, I guess I fell a little short,” Robinson said after the game.

While he didn’t tally the requisite total, Robinson still met Dixon’s expectations in some ways, putting together his best game of the year. He finished with 22 points, 10 rebounds, nine assists and three steals, while serving up clutch plays on both offense and defense in Pitt’s 101-96 double-overtime win over the Demon Deacons.

Robinson’s heroics drove what Wake Forest head coach Danny Manning described as “an exceptionally long ballgame,” helping Pitt overcome late Wake Forest leads in the end of both regulation and overtime play.

With 20 seconds remaining in regulation, Pitt trailed by three. After a miss by junior forward Jamel Artis, junior Chris Jones grabbed an offensive board and dished it to Robinson, who sank a long-range triple from the corner to tie the game.

“We were going to take whatever they gave us,” Robinson said. “Chris came up with a big offensive board. He found me in the right spot, and I hit the shot.”

Manning said his team knew that Robinson could sink some jumpers.

“[He’s a] very good shooter, he just doesn’t shoot a lot,” Manning said. “He got free quite a few times and knocked down some shots.”

Robinson delivered his first game-saving moment on the offensive side of the ball, but matched that play defensively as the game went on.

With the score sitting 82-81 in the first overtime, Ryan Luther missed two free throws with 10 seconds remaining. And as Devin Thomas — a poor free throw shooter — snagged the rebound, Manning called a timeout, hoping to avoid Pitt fouling Thomas.

Anticipating the inbound, Dixon drew up a quick defensive play.

“We put Sheldon [Jeter] on the ball, and he did a great job,” Dixon said. “They couldn’t run, so that was to our advantage. So we wanted to keep our eye on the ball and make it hard for him to pass.”

Robinson did just that, leaping and snagging the ball with one hand while Wake Forest guard Mitchell Wilbekin fouled him, sending Robinson to the line. He made one out of two free throws to send the game into two overtime periods, where Pitt eventually prevailed.

While the steal looked acrobatic in nature, a reserved Robinson downplayed the difficulty.

“He kind of just threw it right to me,” Robinson said.

Dixon admitted the Panthers lucked out when Manning decided to call the timeout, as Robinson would never have had an opportunity to steal the ball.

“We’re fortunate,” Dixon said. “It’s always interesting how things play out. We had a chance to foul them, they called a timeout. We did a good job on the press. It was big.”

Manning didn’t express any regret for calling the game-changing timeout, but rued his team’s execution in that moment.

“I wish we didn’t throw the ball to the other team,” Manning said. “We talked about the options we had, and we went out there and we just didn’t handle that situation very well.”

Robinson remained crucial in the second overtime period as well, scoring seven of Pitt’s 18 points in that period while converting five of six free throws.

While he finished just one assist shy of a triple-double, he said that he didn’t know what his statline was until he entered the locker room.

“I’ve never been one to really look too much into my personal stats, so I’m happy with the win,” Robinson said. “So we’re going to enjoy this one and get ready for Syracuse.”

His stellar performance came after a trio of horrid ones, in which he averaged 7.7 points, three rebounds and four assists on 25.7 percent shooting.

Dixon was thrilled to see Robinson climb out of his rut, especially to tip the game Pitt’s way in its defining moments.

“James was big and it was good to see those shots go in down the stretch, and to come up with a near triple-double,” Dixon said. “He did a terrific job, and I’m proud of him.”

The win was monumentally significant, as it ended a three-game skid. A potential loss to a Wake Forest team with a 1-12 conference record would all but dash Pitt’s chances at getting into the NCAA Tournament without a significant ACC Tournament run.

Still, Robinson didn’t want to get ahead of himself.

“We saved the game. I don’t know about the season,” Robinson said. “Our goal was to go 1-0 tonight.”

Robinson and the Panthers will look to go 1-0 again on Saturday, when they travel to the Carrier Dome to take on the Syracuse Orange. Tipoff is set for 2 p.m.