Pitt levies 77-58 beatdown on Lehigh

The last phrase anyone would use to describe redshirt sophomore Durand Johnson would be gun-shy. On Wednesday night, his trigger-happy offensive mindset was on full display.

The Baltimore native hit five heavily contested 3-point shots in the first half, finishing with 15 points off the bench and propelling the Panthers to a 77-58 win over the Lehigh Mountain Hawks in their second game of the Progressive Legends Classic.

“Durand told me he was going to be on tonight,” sophomore point guard James Robinson said. “Once he hit that first three, I knew he was going to be hot. I just kept giving him the ball and he kept coming through.”

Johnson cited his poor showings in the past few games as a motivator for his breakout performance.

“Last game, I felt bad. I felt down on myself,” said Johnson, who was just 1-for-7 from beyond the arc in his past two games. “Tonight, I wanted to come out and be confident, be shot-ready. My teammates found me and I was able to knock down shots.”

The 6-foot-6 guard cited working in the gym and fine tuning his shot as a catalyst for the turnaround.

“I wasn’t jumping on my jumpshot,” Johnson said. “I wasn’t jumping on my release.”

Johnson’s five triples — a career high — marked the turning point of the game for the Panthers, but the team received sizeable contributions from other players, as well.

Talib Zanna notched the eighth double-double of his career, totaling a career-best 23 points — while going 9-for-10 on field goals — to go along with 14 rebounds.

The senior center from Nigeria was aggressive from the start, something that he cited as a major focus for improvement this offseason. That aggressive attitude was displayed front and center early on, as Zanna tallied eight of the team’s first 12 points.

“We talked about how they were going to guard the ball screens, and thought [Talib] would be open,” head coach Jamie Dixon said. “It’s really good to see him play well. It’s been pretty consistent every night out.”

James Robinson contributed with 11 assists, a new career high for the sophomore, while posting a zero in the turnovers column. Dixon was very impressed by the young guard’s unselfishness.

“We’re up big numbers and [James] is still not looking for his,” said Dixon, who compiled win No. 266 of his head coaching career Wednesday. “That’s pretty consistent with Pitt basketball.”

The Panthers’ victory came over a Lehigh program that has won 20 or more games the past two seasons, but is recuperating after losing a few starters.

The biggest loss was guard C.J. McCollum, who was drafted in the first round of the NBA draft by the Portland Trail Blazers (two picks ahead of former Pitt center Steven Adams). The teams met last year, with Pitt winning that contest 78-53.

After the loss, Lehigh head coach Brett Reed was complimentary of the Panthers, stating that, “They have a physical presence to them.” When asked about how his team prepared to defend Pitt’s offense, Reed boiled it down to one player.

“Johnson was the one guy that we didn’t want to let go on the perimeter,” said Reed, currently in his seventh year as the Mountain Hawks’ head coach. “He did an excellent job.”

Defensively, the Panthers held Lehigh’s star senior guard, Mackey McKnight, to eight points on 4-for-10 shooting, while the Mountain Lions shot 44.7 percent from the field. The Mountain Hawks were led in scoring by freshman center Tim Kempton — son of the NBA player of the same name — who had 20 points on 7-of-10 shooting.

Where Pitt truly dominated, in large part thanks to Zanna’s contributions, was on the glass. The Panthers out-rebounded Lehigh by an astounding 44-to-21 margin and hauled in 17 offensive boards.

Lamar Patterson, making his 70th consecutive start, once again filled up the box score. The redshirt senior put up 17 points, 5 rebounds and 4 assists while knocking down a trio of threes. True freshman Jamel Artis pitched in with seven points — including the first three-pointer of his collegiate career — and three rebounds in 20 minutes of action.

The Panthers are now 4-0 on the season, winning each of their games by margins of 19 points or more. After winning their first two games in the Progressive Legends Classic, the Panthers head to Brooklyn, N.Y., to face Texas Tech in the second leg of the invitational. The game will take place at 7:30 p.m. at the Barclays Center Monday.