Pitt cruises past Maryland for first ACC home win

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Pitt’s first home ACC game started fairly better than its first ACC game on the road, when the Panthers faced an early 15-point deficit in Raleigh, N.C., against North Carolina State Saturday.

Back at the Petersen Events Center Monday, the Maryland Terrapins hung tight with the Panthers through the game’s first 18 minutes. But a quick spurt by the Panthers at the end of the first half and through the start of the second keyed a 20-point, 79-59 victory for Pitt (14-1, 2-0 ACC).

Behind that run?

“This man. Durand Johnson,” redshirt senior forward Lamar Patterson said post-game, gesturing to the man sitting to his right.

Johnson, a redshirt sophomore guard, finished with a career-high 17 points — including a stretch at the beginning of the second half in which he scored seven of Pitt’s first 11 points — on 6-of-8 shooting and a 3-for-4 performance from long range.

Head coach Jamie Dixon started Johnson in the second half after Maryland forward Evan Smotrycz challenged freshman forwards Michael Young and Jamel Artis with his three 3-pointers. Dixon wanted Patterson on Smotrycz, while Johnson provided scoring punch off the bench.

“Playing smaller, I think, was key late in the first half, then in the second half getting us the lead,” Dixon said.

From there, the Panthers didn’t look back.

“We all came together before the half started and said “C’mon y’all, this is our half. Let’s sustain this lead and let’s turn it up a notch,’” Johnson said. “We ended up winning by 20 points, so that was good to see.”

Johnson’s effort led a 31-point scoring night from Dixon’s reserves, whom he said, “[were] really the thing that got us going in the first and then continued throughout the second half.” Newkirk added eight points in 18 minutes off the bench.

“Both of them are spark plugs coming off the bench,” Patterson said. “It’s just good to see these guys step it up a notch in big games like this, in ACC, and we expect that from them all year long.”

Among the starters, Patterson led all scorers with 19 points on 8-of-12 shooting and Talib Zanna nearly posted his fifth double-double of the season with 13 points and a game-high nine rebounds.

Patterson’s steady play led a Pitt team that continually wore the Terrapins (10-6, 2-1 ACC) down, especially on both ends of the floor.

“I thought we tried to guard in the first half,” Maryland head coach Mark Turgeon said. “I don’t think defensively we were dialed in the second half. I think we let the score and missed jump shots affect our defense in the second half.”

In that second half, due to Pitt’s continual defensive pressure and physicality, the Terrapins seemingly gave up on attacking the basket.

“I do think that we settled for too many jump shots,” Turgeon said. “I won’t mention any names.”

After Smotrycz made three of four 3-pointers in the first half, he made only one of seven in the game’s second 20 minutes. Overall, Smotrycz scored 14 points but shot an inefficient 4-of-13 from the field.

Seth Allen led the Terrapins with 18 points off the bench and finished 5-of-11 from the field. Jake Layman, who entered the contest scoring 13.7 points per game, was held to just three points and one made field goal.

Layman, another versatile forward, was held in check via the adjustments made from the Panthers bench.

“We were able to play a lot of different options today,” Dixon said. “I was really concerned about Smotrycz as a four, having two freshman guarding a guy that can shoot it like that.”

As the shots of Smotrycz and co. stopped falling, the Panthers’ lead stretched into double digits. Maryland cut its deficit to 10 points with five minutes to play, but the Panthers took care of business the rest of the way to secure an emphatic victory.

“We’re a team that likes to grind it out a lot, so if that’s the case, then so be it,” Patterson said. “If teams can’t run and stand with us, I guess that’s good for us.”

Pitt’s next chance to make an impression on its fellow ACC members comes Saturday, when Wake Forest visits the Petersen Events Center. The Panthers’ 16-point average margin of victory is easy to like after two games for Pitt, but Dixon admits the ACC has much more in store for the team.

“So far I like it after two games,” Dixon said. “But we’ve got a long way to go and a lot of improvements to make, a lot of great teams to play against and a lot of great places to play.”