If DeJuan Blair had been allowed to play more than what amounted to one half yesterday against IUP he might have broken several school records. But so bad was the beating Pitt was administering to Division II IUP that coach Jamie Dixon pulled his star center from the game with 14:35 remaining on the clock.

If he hadn't, who knows how many points and rebounds Blair would have recorded? As it was, Blair scored 27 points and pulled down 18 rebounds in 21 minutes in an 86-60 rout of the Crimson Hawks at the Petersen Events Center.

How easy was it for Blair?

The 6-foot-7, 265-pound man-child had his third double-double in the first four games with 3:56 remaining on the clock in the first half. He had 20 points and 16 rebounds at the intermission, numbers that most players dream of posting in entire games.

"Was that DeJuan? I though that was Shaq," joked IUP coach and former Pitt assistant Joe Lombardi. "Before the game I told him he was going to be like Shaq this year. When I said that I didn't realize he was going to go out and play like it."

The dominating performance was captured succinctly by a fan with a dry erase board in the Oakland Zoo. After Blair completed a three-point play in the opening moments of the second half, the board read: Blair 23, IUP 21.

Blair, who is as funny as he is good, attempted to describe the zone he was in.

"I was having fun out there," he said. "I'm always having fun, but today was a party, I guess. And I was the only one dancing."

That was a pretty good way to describe the beat down. It was like Blair was playing against air. Whenever a teammate missed a shot, Blair was there to grab the rebound and score. At one point late in the first half, Blair scored off offensive rebounds on five consecutive possessions.

"Yeah, that was when I didn't know who I was," Blair said. "Everything that went off I was tipping to myself or I would go get it and put it back in. I really don't know what happened. I just got on a roll.

"I'm pretty mad that I didn't get 20 rebounds. But 18 in 21 minutes ... that's almost a rebound [a minute], so that's good. I was just going after every one. It was good to grab all that I could."

Blair finished the game 13 for 14 from the field and with eight offensive rebounds. He also added one assist and one block without committing a turnover.

The awe-inspiring performance had his teammates impressed.

"It was a great game," senior point guard Levance Fields said. "But we're used to DeJuan playing this well. It's not surprising to us at all."

IUP received double the compensation for switching this game from the exhibition season to the regular season. By the time the game ended -- actually by the first media timeout -- Lombardi had to be wondering whether the few extra dollars were worth it.

Pitt jumped out to a 20-0 lead in the first six minutes. IUP missed its first eight shots and didn't score until 13:29 remained on the clock in the half. The Crimson Hawks, to their credit, didn't fold under the pressure and rallied with a 13-2 run to cut the lead to nine when Dixon had the backups in the game.

But Blair's spurt at the end of the first half sparked another big run, this one 16-0 to close the half and make it 45-17.

Blair scored seven consecutive points early in the second half to give the Panthers a 54-21 lead before Dixon removed him from the game. Pitt's reserves ran out the remaining minutes.

Lombardi, who recruited Sam Young to Pitt and made a big impact on the program during his time, believes Blair will be even better than he was last season when he won Big East rookie of the year honors.

"DeJuan is better than he was last year," Lombardi said. "He was a man in waiting last year. Now he has arrived."

NOTES -- No Pitt starter played more than 24 minutes. ... Freshman Ashton Gibbs and senior Tyrell Biggs were the only other Pitt players to score in double figures with 10 points. ... The Panthers outscored IUP in the lane, 48-18, and had 23 points from offensive rebounds. ... Pitt's next game is Tuesday night against Belmont.