Article:Pitt Cruises Past Friars

Nothing out of the ordinary to report from the Pete last night, as Pitt dominated a poor Providence team, coming away with a 82-63 win that simply helped Pitt keep pace in the Big East. The Panthers are sitting in 5th place, a half-game behind UConn (who beat Pitt) and a half game ahead of Marquette (who Pitt will play on the road, Friday night). The top 4 teams get a bye in the Big East Tournament.

After some back-and-forth play seen in the first half of most college b-ball games, Pitt grabbed the lead for good with 5:34 to play in the first half. From there, Pitt simply dominated the inferior Friars. Providence only scored 6 points in the first 11 minutes of the second half. The Panthers also played well on the offensive end of the floor. Gilbert Brown, Sam Young, and DeJuan Blair each jammed home a highlight-reel worthy dunk. Young broke out of a month-long slump with a game-high 22 points. He simply started to hustle after loose balls, drive straight past players for layups at will, and took some fade-away shots that looked ill-advised, but he nailed every one. Afterwards Jamie Dixon said Pitt was running sets for Young all night. Blair had 15 points and Benjamin had 10. Ronald Ramon, coming off the awesome shot to beat WVU, went 5 for 7 from beyond the arc, scoring 15 points. Wanamaker played another solid game off the bench with 6, and McGhee chipped in with 4 as did Biggs.

Levance Fields, contrary to prior speculation, did not even suit up for the game. Pitt didn't need him, but they will in two days at Marquette. Even if he does play in that game, his minutes will be extremely limited. It's a good thing Ramon and Benjamin have really adjusted to sharing PG duties with Fields out. Dixon said Fields is still practicing and is day-to-day.