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The most decisive stretch in last night's game between Pitt and Eastern Kentucky came in the final seven minutes of the first half. Many games have big turning points in the first half, but what made Pitt's 71-60 victory so sweet for coach Jamie Dixon was how his bench players excelled in the game's most important moments.
With two of his best and most experienced players saddled with two fouls apiece, Dixon turned to freshmen and inexperienced players to pick up the slack. Freshmen Lamar Patterson and Dante Taylor, redshirt freshman Travon Woodall, sophomore Ashton Gibbs and senior transfer Chase Adams were on the floor for the majority of the minutes when the Panthers held Eastern Kentucky without a point for the final 6:57 of the half and scored the final 11 points at the Petersen Events Center.
Of that group, only Gibbs played in a Big East game last season.
- Game: Pitt (3-0) vs. Wichita State (2-0) in the O'Reilly Auto Parts CBE Classic.
- When: 7:30 p.m. Monday.
- Where: Sprint Center, Kansas City, Mo.
- TV: ESPN2.
"I guess Ashton was the most experienced guy out there," Dixon said. "We had four new guys out there. We don't use the word inexperience. We've got the players to do it. We can play as experienced as we want to play. It's a term. It doesn't define you if you don't allow it to. We don't have any excuses. If we make mistakes, it's because it's our mistake; it's not a result of inexperience."
Pitt now heads to Kansas City for the final two games of the O'Reilly Auto Parts CBE Classic. The Panthers (3-0) will play Wichita State Monday night at the Sprint Center, with the winner advancing to the championship game to face Texas or Iowa.
Eastern Kentucky kept the score close for the first 10 minutes. Pitt led, 19-16, with 10:03 remaining before halftime. But during the final 10 minutes of the half, the Panthers outscored the Colonels, 20-8, to take a 39-24 halftime lead.
Over the final seven minutes of the half, Eastern Kentucky was 0 for 9 with two turnovers.
"Pitt plays great defense," said Eastern Kentucky coach Jeff Neubauer. "That's why they've been a dominant team for the past decade."
Pitt's young players were in the game because junior Brad Wanamaker and sophomore Nasir Robinson were on the bench in foul trouble.
Patterson scored all 10 of his points in the first half and Gibbs scored 14 of his team-high 20 in that period to lead the Panthers.
Pitt held Eastern Kentucky to 40 percent shooting for the game. Much of that had to do with Pitt's shot-blocking. The Panthers tied a school record with 12 blocks. Taylor and junior center Gary McGhee each had four blocks apiece.
Pitt has held its first three opponents to 60 points or fewer. And for the first time this season, the Panthers rebounded with passion. They outrebounded the Colonels, 47-25, after outrebounding their first two opponents by only six.
"When we focus on one or two things, this team has really responded," Dixon said. "After the first game, we focused on our passing and we had 24 assists on 27 baskets in the next game. This game, it was all about rebounds, especially long rebounds.
"We got some rebounding out of our guards and that was something we were trying to improve on."
Woodall, who is 5 feet 11, grabbed six rebounds. Wanamaker had eight and Patterson four.
The Panthers maintained a double-digit lead until 1:06 remained in the game, when the Colonels cut the lead to nine. Eastern Kentucky's Justin Stommes and Josh Taylor, who went to Brentwood High School, were keeping the Colonels in the game.
Stommes scored a game-high 24 points and Taylor added 11.
Still, the final margin would not have been close had the Panthers not shot horrendously from the free-throw line. They were 14 for 24 for the game, with four of those misses coming in the final five minutes.
NOTES -- Pitt first recorded 12 blocks in a game Dec. 1, 1993, against St. Francis, Pa. ... Pitt was 5 for 19 from 3-point range; Eastern Kentucky 9 for 24. ... Pitt had 18 assists on 26 baskets. ... Pitt had 13 turnovers, with six of those attributed to Robinson.
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