MILWAUKEE -- For the first 10 minutes of its NCAA first-round game Friday against Oakland at the Bradley Center, Pitt had the look of a team that hadn't played in more than a week. There were turnovers, ragged offense and some less-than-stellar defense that led one to believe that the Panthers might be in for a long tussle against the Golden Grizzlies of the Summit League.

But in the final 30 minutes of what turned into an 89-66 runaway victory for third-seeded Pitt, the Panthers looked like a team that made the most of their practice time after the early exit in the quarterfinals from the Big East Conference tournament.

Eight days after scoring a season-low 45 points in a Big East quarterfinal loss to Notre Dame, Pitt scored its second-most points in a game this season, and its most in a regulation game, against the Golden Grizzlies.

"We had tough practices night in and night out after that loss," Pitt junior Gilbert Brown said. "We put in the work and effort to come up here and be ready for this tournament. We're focused right now and determined to make a run."

Pitt's next opponent is No. 6 Xavier, which defeated No. 11 seed Minnesota, 65-54, earlier. It will be a rematch of an NCAA third-round game a year ago that Pitt won, 60-55.

Brown was one of six players to score in double figures for the Panthers. Brown and Jermaine Dixon each had 17 points. Nasir Robinson and Brad Wanamaker added 13 apiece. Gary McGhee had 12 and Travon Woodall 10.

Oakland center Keith Benson scored 28 points, but he received little help from his teammates. The Golden Grizzlies only shot 33 percent from the field as the Panthers clamped down on defense to win their first game in the NCAA tournament for the fifth year in a row.

Pitt's role players had big games because Oakland concentrated its efforts on stopping Ashton Gibbs, Pitt's leading scorer. Gibbs had another tough outing, scoring seven points on 1-for-7 shooting. But the Golden Grizzlies neglected to pay attention to Pitt's secondary players, and they made that strategy backfire.

• McGhee, who did not score last week against Notre Dame, reached double figures for the first time in seven games.

• Woodall scored in double figures for the first time in eight games.

• And Robinson reached double figures for only the second time in the past seven games.

"We're kind of tough when we play like that," Robinson said. "We have a lot of guys who can step up any given night. Once we share the ball and get guys open shots and get good looks, things should work out good for us. We shared the ball today and that's why we got the victory."

Pitt shot 54 percent from the field and had 18 assists on its 30 field goals. The Panthers were 18 for 30 from the field (60 percent) in the second half when they ran the Grizzlies off the court.

After some sloppy play early in the game, the Panthers made the decision to drive hard to the basket. That led to some easy baskets and 36 free-throw attempts. The Panthers converted 25 of those into points.

"I really liked how we figured things out as the game went on and adapted to what they were doing, especially on the offensive end, our decision-making, our transition, our drives," Pitt coach Jamie Dixon said. "And as we got going offensively we started making dump-offs and kick-outs off our penetration, and that's how we were getting good shots. That's how we were able to shoot such a high percentage."

Oakland had control of the game early. The Golden Grizzlies led, 14-10, after Pitt missed six of its first nine shots from the field and committed five turnovers in the first nine minutes of the game.

The game changed when McGhee went up strong and accidentally came down and elbowed Oakland senior Derick Nelson above the eye. Nelson, who stayed on the floor for about 10 minutes, went to the locker room and received six stitches. He did not return until the second half.

Pitt seized the momentum after that, ending the half on a 29-12 run.

"I thought we had the game going just the way we wanted it to go," Oakland coach Greg Kampe said. "I really thought it was going our way. Then the thing with Nelson was a double-edged sword.

"I thought the 10 minutes we stood there really hurt us. I don't know if it gave them a chance to gather themselves. The pressure was on them. They were missing some shots. They were struggling. They were coming off a game where they hadn't score a lot. And I think there were some things in their mind there. And then things just started to get away from us."

McGhee played a big role in the first-half surge. He scored 8 of his 12 points before halftime. Wanamaker and Dixon also had eight apiece in the first half, and Brown and Woodall combined for 12 points off the bench.

When McGhee scored with 1:08 left in the half it capped a 26-4 Pitt run that ended any legitimate hopes for an Oakland second-half comeback.

"We valued possessions," Brown said. "We started the game off with five turnovers. It was real sloppy. We had to get back to running our offense as a team. We ended up with 18 assists on 30 baskets. When we play like that it always translates into wins. When we don't have that many assists that's when we're in a nail-biter or we lose."

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