Big East Sports Blog

Pittsburgh may be without Levance Fields and Mike Cook, but they still have Sam Young and Keith Benjamin.  And that aint too bad.  Young and Benjamin combined for 42 points (Young 22, Benjamin 20) to help No.20 Pittsburgh knock off South Florida 79-66 on Wednesday night.

Young scored 16 of his 22 points in the second half for Pittsburgh (13-2, 2-1), and Benjamin scored 11 in the first frame.  Pittsburgh led at the half 40-33, and then busted the game wide open, using a 19-6 run to blow by the Bulls.  Down to only nine players due to the injuries, Pittsburgh’s bench got a nice lift from Gary McGhee, who had six points off the bench.  Pittsburgh’s largest lead came with just over four minutes to play in the game, 73-56.  The Panthers took great care of the basketball, only committing 10 turnovers, while shooting 53 percent from the field.

Kentrell Gransberry finished with a game-high 26 points and grabbed 11 rebounds, and Jesus Verdejo added 17 points for South Florida (10-6, 1-2).  The Bulls had won three straight before dropping their last two games to Syracuse and Pitt.

You have to admire the way head coach Jamie Dixon has this Pittsburgh team playing.  They’re not crying or pouting, or making excuses because of the injuries.  They’re just putting their heads down and keep plowing through, and competing.

Next up for Pittsburgh, they’ll host Seton Hall on Saturday afternoon at 2 p.m.  South Florida will also return to action on Saturday, a road tilt versus Providence at 4 p.m.

It was the marquee match-up of the weekend and something had to give.  Two teams ranked inside the top 20.  Two teams that have had their recent struggles.  Villanova was in need of a bounce back effort after being upset by DePaul and Pittsburgh is still looking for a new identity without Mike Cook and Levance Fields.  The funny thing about sports is that there’s always going to be a winner and a loser.

Two free throws by Dante Cunningham in the final 10 seconds, and a turnover on the final possession of the game helped No. 17 Villanova defeat No.13 Pittsburgh 64-63 on Sunday afternoon.

The depth of Villanova (11-2, 1-1) played a decisive factor in helping the Wildcats past Pittsburgh (12-2, 0-1).  The bench of Villanova poured in 39 points, rescuing the struggling starting five of the Wildcats.  The starters for Villanova combined for only 25 points on an abysmal 8-of-34 shooting (23.5 percent).

The Wildcats got a humongous boost from freshman guard Malcom Grant, who scored 22 points (4-of-7 from 3-point range), 14 coming in the first half.  Grant scored eight of the final 10 points for Villanova to close out the first half with both teams deadlocked at 30.  The Wildcats used a 14-6 at the end of the half to pull even.

Antonio Pena added 12 points off the bench for Villanova, who outscored Pittsburgh’s bench 39-7 in the game.  Dante Cunningham had six points and nine rebounds, but the trio of guards for Jay Wright struggled badly.  Scottie Reynolds, Corey Fisher, and Reggie Redding combined for just 12 points on 4-of-22 shooting. 

Pittsburgh only had seven players enter the game, with all five of their starters playing at least 30 minutes.  Sam Young had 16 points for the Panthers and DeJuan Blair added 12 points and 15 boards.  The Panthers outrebounded the Wildcats 43-31 and outshot them as well, 45.5 percent to 33.9 percent.  Despite those two stats heavily in their favor, their 22 turnovers matched a season high, with their 22nd turnover of the game costing the Panthers the potential victory on the final possession.

Blair put the Panthers ahead 63-62 with 1:36 to play, but with 15 seconds left, Grant hoisted a long shot for Villanova that missed, however the Wildcats were able to keep possession on a held ball off the rebound.  Then, with 10 seconds to go Reynolds found Cunningham inside and he was fouled, putting him at the line for 2 shots.  Cunningham connected on both putting Villanova ahead 64-63.  Ronald Ramon brought the ball up the floor for Pitt, but had it knocked out of his hands at the top of the key, ending the game and giving Villanova the win.  Ramon was the only Pitt starter not to score in double figures, finishing with just three points on 1-of-5 shooting.  The Panthers have lost two of their last three games since starting the season 11-0.

Villanova will be idle for five days and they’ll return to action on Saturday, Jan.12th at 7 p.m. when they travel to Cincinnati to meet the Bearcats.  Pittsburgh will hit the hardwood on Wednesday when they travel to Orlando to square off against South Florida at 7:30 p.m.

It hasn’t been a good weekend for the Pittsburgh Panthers.  On Saturday they were trounced 80-55 against Dayton, suffering their first and most lopsided loss of the season.  During the game they lost their point guard, as Levance Fields had to be carried off the court and into the locker room.  Today they found out they’ll be without his services for quite a while.

Levance Fields broke his left foot in Saturday’s loss to Dayton and he will be out 8-12 weeks.  The injury could end his regular season with the Panthers, but Field could possibly return for the Big East tournament and NCAA tournament in March for Pittsburgh.

The loss of Fields comes a little more than a week after Pittsburgh loss senior Mike Cook for the season with a torn ACL in the win over Duke.  The injury to Fields now raises serious question about where Pittsburgh will go from here.

Who becomes the point guard?  Who becomes the facilitator for the offense?  Who becomes the leader on the floor?  Certainly all questions that aren’t going to easily be answered for head coach Jamie Dixon and company. 

The base case scenario for Pitt is that Ronald Ramon will handle the point guard duties, but they’ll need him to snap out of his recent slump now more than ever.  Ramon is 1-of-15 from the field in the last two games, missing all eight shots he took on Saturday against Dayton.  Along with Ramon, Sam Young may become one of the go-to-guys for Dixon.  He’ll have to be more aggressive and assertive now, as well as freshman DeJuan Blair.  Blair will have to grow up a little quicker than anticipated and the Panthers will need him to raise his efforts and get better with each game. 

Fields was averaging 11.9 points, 5.4 assists and 3.9 rebounds in his 12 starts this season for Pittsburgh.  This is the second season being a starter for Jamie Dixon.  Fields had started 49 straight games for Pittsburgh.

That huge thud we just heard in the background is the sound of the Panthers crashing back to earth, courtesy of the Dayton.

The Flyers handed Pittsburgh a big slice of humble pie on Saturday night, as Dayton crushed No. 6 Pittsburgh in convincing fashion 80-55.  Pittsburgh’s first loss of the year puts them at 11-1.  It was the perfect storm for the Panthers.  On the road in enemy territory.  Hostile crowd firmly behind the home team.  Pitt riding high on their victory of Duke.  Oh, and the fact that the Panthers couldn’t shoot a lick on this night didn’t help matter either.

Pittsburgh only shot 30 percent from the field, thanks largely to Dayton’s stingy perimeter defense.  The Flyers strangled Pittsburgh’s offense, not allowing the Panthers any easy cracks at the basket, forcing them into numerous long, contested shots and limiting Pitt to many one and done offensive possessions.  The most alarming stat on the night for Pittsburgh was their three point shooting; it was nothing short of terrible.  The Panthers shot 3-for-25 from three point range, good for just 12 percent. 

This night belonged to the Dayton Flyers and Brian Roberts.  The Panthers had zero answers for Roberts, as he poured in a game-high 31 points, 19 coming in the first half.  12 of his 19 first half points came in a span of 3:19.  The Flyers went to the glass like a team on a mission, outrebounding Pittsburgh 41-34.

As if the night for Pittsburgh couldn’t get any worse, now they may be without their leader and the guy that makes things go for Pitt.  Levance Fields went down early in the second half with an ankle injury.  He had to helped off the field into the locker room and did not return.  He scored 13 points before leaving the game.

Sam Young led the Panthers with 15 points.  DeJuan Blair was limited to nine points and six rebounds.  Blair was coming off his best game of the year, a 15 point-20 rebound night against Duke.  Foul trouble in the first half limited Blair’s production and he was never able to get himself into a rhythm.  Speaking of not being able to get into a rhythm, it was a night to forget to Ronald Ramon.  Ramon missed all eight shots he took tonight.  He didnt’ have a good night in the win against Duke, shooting one-for-seven in that contest.  Collectively, Ramon is now 1-for-15 from the field in his last two games.

The Flyers largest lead of the night was 20, up 60-40 with about eight minutes to play.  The held a 12 point lead at halftime 45-33.  For the second straight game the Panthers went into the break trailing by 12 points.  They were fortunate to find their energy and toughness against Duke in the second half, but tonight they just didn’t have it.

Pittsburgh played about as poorly as they possibly could have played this season.  What head coach Jamie Dixon and company have to be concerned about is they have not played well in three of the last four halves of basketball in the past two games.  Easy baskets have been extremely difficult to come by the last two games.  Shooting 30 percent from the field isn’t going to cut it against the Big East and certainly when you’re attempting 25 threes and only hitting on three of them, Pittsburgh won’t beat themselves in a shoot around practice, let alone the likes of Villanova, Marquette, or Georgetown.

Alot of credit goes to Dayton on this night.  They simply wanted this one more than Pittsburgh did.  They used a raucous home crowd and hitched their wagon to Brian Roberts.  Pitt allowed him a plethora of open looks and he made the Panthers pay for their defensive lapses all night.  The win makes it ten in a row now for the Flyers (11-1).

Pittsburgh will have one final chance to regroup and get back on the winning track before they head in Big East play.  They’ll host Lafayette on Jan. 2nd before a huge match-up with Villanova on Sunday, Jan. 6th to kick start conference play.

It was just a week ago, but hopefully their victory under the national spotlight wasn’t lost in all of the last minute gift shopping and holiday hoopla.  But, at the very least, we know who won’t soon forget last Thursday’s clash in the Garden: Pittsburgh and Duke.

Pick an adjective.  Any one will do.  Toughness.  Tenacity. Determination.  Perseverance.  They’ll all work when you describe the type of win Pittsburgh had over Duke last Thursday night.

This is the kind of win Jamie Dixon and the Panthers can use to propel them to big things in 2008.  They played about as poorly as they possibly could for the first 20 minutes.  14 first half turnovers, a stretch for almost six minutes without  a field goal, and a 20-9 run to Duke used to close the first half up 34-22.  We hadn’t seen that Pittsburgh team in the first half for a long time.  The second 20 minute frame was the type of Panthers team we’ve become accustomed to seeing.

In the first half, they were harassed by the ball hawking defense the Blue Devils applied.  They held freshman forward DeJuan Blair in check, holding him to just five first half points.  The Panthers had a confidence problem in the first half.  They could of folded.  They could of packed it in.  They could of enjoyed the holiday season a few days earlier.  Not a chance.  Not this team.  And surely, not a Jamie Dixon coached Pittsburgh squad. Not now.  Not under his watch.

From his high school basketball days, Blair had Duke at the top of his list of schools to play basketball at.  Certainly that’s quite a lengthy line Blair found himself in, wanting to play at Duke.  The Blue Devils never gave Blair a sniff, and luckily the Pittsburgh native stayed in state.  Plus for Pitt.  Big minus for the Blue Devils.

Somewhere former Pittsburgh bigs were smiling at the second half Blair dropped on the Blue Devils.  You can just picture Aaron Gray, Chris Taft, and Chevon Troutman all huddled around their tv sets, flying out of their chairs every time the freshman scored a tough basket or went to the glass with a ferocity that the Blue Devils couldn’t match.

By game’s end, Blair had Coach K and Duke wishing they’d brought the big fella down to Tobacco Road.  Blair finished the night with 15 points and 20 rebounds, and Duke finished the night searching unsuccessfully for answers on how to stop Blair. Fortunately for Duke, the only thing that stopped Blair on this night were five fouls, the fifth coming in the overtime period. 

Without Blair, and having lost senior leader Mike Cook to a knee injury just one minute into overtime, someone had to step up for Pittsburgh.  These names ring a bell?  Brandin Knight?  Carl Krauser?  Certainly around Pittsburgh, they won’t be forgotten for quite some time.  They made their own legacies as clutch, go-to point guards in crunch time.  Knight and Krauser better scoot over.  Here comes  Levance Fields. 

The junior point guard poured in a game-high 22 points, including the game-winning three-pointer with 4.7 seconds to go in overtime, giving Pittsburgh a 65-64 win and keeping the Panthers unbeaten (11-0).

You’ve seen it in past years.  Brandin Knight helped revive the Panthers program.  He guided the Panthers to their first Big East title in 2003, and helped Pittsburgh to the Big East final three straight years, from 2001-2003.  Krauser helped lead the Panthers to three straight appearances playing in March.  Both matured into leaders, both leading by example when the game matters the most.  Both becoming the players you want to have the ball with the game on the line.

Only a junior, Fields is reminding those around Panther country of his former predecessors.  He wanted the ball in his hands with the game up for grabs.  He wanted his teammates to trust him, to count on him when the chips were down.  Sound familiar?

Yes this season is only in its infancy.  And yes it’s only just one win.  But this was certainly not just another win.  This is Duke; basketball blue-blood.  It’s history. It’s prestige. It’s Coach K.  A win like this transcends the previous 10 so far this season.  Jamie Dixon is now 59-3 in non conference games, and Pittsburgh handed Duke their first loss in December since 2000.

This is not just another win.  This win tells you an awful lot about Pittsburgh.  Look at the way they handled themselves on the big stage and bright lights for all the nation to see.  They refused to quit, overcoming a 12-point halftime deficit, tying the largest comeback in the school’s history. 

They out-worked, out-hustled and out-willed Duke.  For those left on Pittsburgh’s schedule, they’d better be prepared to deal with a team that refuses to lose, a team that’s going to keep coming at you, and a team that’s coming in with the mindset that they’re going to line up, outwork you and knock you on your rear.

This win was for Mike Cook, their fallen teammate who’ll will miss the rest of the year with a torn ACL.  Fields used the emotion and will from his teammate and friend to lift Pittsburgh up when it appeared they had fallen.  Now as an assistant coach, Knight must of thought he was looking into a glimpse of the past, watching Fields do all the things he did in a Pittsburgh uniform.  This was surely not just another win.  This was a man’s win for the Pittsburgh Panthers

The Panthers notched a huge win over Duke in a battle of unbeatens on Thursday night, but suffered a crushing blow in the process.

Fifth year season Mike Cook tore his ACL in his left knee during the first minute of overtime against Duke, while also suffering a medial and lateral meniscal tear.  The Pittsburgh guard/forward will miss the remainder of the season.

Cook will have surgery within the next two weeks, followed by a rehabilitation process that could last up to 12 months.  Cook was averaging 10.4 points and 2.8 rebounds per game, while averaging 24.9 minutes per game for the Panthers.

Cook’s leadership will be missed in the locker room and on the court.  The fifth-year senior has grown into a mentor and leader for the Panthers.  Look for juniors Levance Fields and Sam Young to become more vocal and grow into leaders and mentors for the rest of the  Pittsburgh squad.  With conference play just off the horizon, the Panthers are going to need every source of leadership and guidance with the likes of Georgetown,  Louisville, and Villanova posing difficult roadblocks on the path to the Big East title.

It took 45 minutes for someone to leave Madison Square Garden with their first loss of the season, but Levance Fields made sure the Panthers left MSG exactly how they entered it: unbeaten.

Fields buried the game-winning three-pointer with 4.7 seconds left in overtime to lead #9 Pittsburgh past #7 Duke 65-64 in the Aeropostale Classic on Thursday night.  The Panthers improved to 11-0 with the victory, while the loss puts Duke at 10-1

The win was bittersweet, as early in overtime Mike Cook injured his knee after traveling with the ball.  Cook remained down on the court for several minutes and had to be helped off the court, unable to put any weight on his leg. 

After Fields hit the three, Duke had chances, both coming from John Scheyer.  Scheyer attempted a hurried three-pointer that was off the mark, but was able to grab his own rebound and put up one final attempt that missed as well. 

The Blue Devils did not have one of their more memorable shooting nights.  They shot 4-for-19 from beyond the arc (21 percent), and only connected on 14-of-26 attempts from the free throw line, good for 53.8 percent.  The Blue Devil backcourt was virtually non existent all night, as Greg Paulus and Scheyer had seven points combined on 2-of-12 shooting from the field.  Scheyer was 1-for-10.

Fields led the way for Pittsburgh with a game-high 21 points.  He nailed all three, three-pointers for the Panthers, who didn’t have a good night from three-point range, shooting 15.8 percent on 3-of-19 shooting.  Sam Young added 17 points, and freshman DeJuan Blair turned in a monster performance, netting 15 points and pulling down 20 boards.  The Blue Devils were unable to find a consistent answer for Blair, as his toughness, energy and sheer force shredded the Blue Devils interior defense in the second half.

Gerald Henderson and Kyle Singler led Duke with 17 points apiece.  Henderson hit the tying shot with 56 seconds to go to push the contest to overtime.  The loss snaps Duke’s 36-game unbeaten streak in December, their last loss coming on December 21, 2000 against Stanford.

It was a tale of two halves for both teams, with Duke dominating the first twenty minutes.  Their defense stymied Pittsburgh, creating 13 first half turnovers.  The Blue Devils didn’t let the Panthers get any easy looks at the basket, forcing far away from the basket.  The best job the Blue Devils was holding Blair to only five first-half points and closing out the first half on a 20-9 run.  They also head Pittsburgh for nearly six minutes without a field goal.

The second half proved to be a reversal of roles.  The Panthers took care of the ball, Blair was a man-beast inside and the Blue Devil backcourt never came alive.  Pittsburgh outscored Duke 21-14 in first 11 minutes of the second half.  Even at halftime in the rebounding department, the Panthers dropped the hammer on the Blue Devils, out-rebounding them 53-39.

Duke went close to five minutes in the second half without scoring, and went nearly seven minutes without registering a field goal.  During that span, the Panthers used a 12-0 run to give them the lead, 50-49, for the first time since they were up 2-0. 

Pittsburgh will now be off for the next eight days and won’t return to action until Saturday, Dec. 29th when they travel to Dayton to take on the Flyers at 8 p.m.