The Pitt Panthers basketball team has spent all season looking for a signature win, having gone 0-6 against ranked teams prior.
Sunday afternoon at the Petersen Events Center they got one against No. 15 Duke and they got it in a big way.
Led by Jamel Artis with 17, five Panthers players scored in double figures as Pitt led wire-to-wire in a 76-62 rout of the defending national champions.
“We may have had our two best practices of the year the past couple of days,” said Artis. “We knew what we had to come out and do. We were ready and it showed today.”
Pitt got off to a hot start offensively and defensively and took a 16-6 early lead on a three-pointer from James Robinson. The Panthers eventually upped their lead to as many as 14 in the first half before leading by as many as 23 in the second.
Duke made a mini run and cut the lead to 10 early in the second half, but back-to-back three’s from Sheldon Jeter and Ryan Luther put the game away.
“We’re a team that’s matured and come together and played our best basketball and our seniors are playing their best basketball,” Pitt head coach Jamie Dixon said. “James Robinson is playing his best basketball. We’ve let him down in a few of these losses to ranked teams but I thought we made up for it.”
Robinson, playing his final home game, finished with 14, while Jeter (11), Luther (10) and Michael Young (10) all scored in double figures for Pitt, who likely punched its ticket to the NCAA Tournament with the win.
Duke was led in scoring by Grayson Allen with a game-high 22 points. Brandon Ingram (17) and Luke Kennard (11) also finished in double figures for the Blue Devils.
“Pitt was outstanding,” Duke head coach Mike Krzyzewski said. “They were hungrier than we were. They were locked in.”
Scorching hot start- Pitt jumped all over Duke from the get go, leading by as many as 14 at one point in the first half.
The Panthers did it on both ends of the floor for a change, holding the Blue Devils without a point on their first six possessions. During that span, Pitt made seven of its first nine field goal attempts.
Pitt eventually slowed down towards the end of the half, going scoreless the final 2:46, a span in which they went 0-for-6 and committed three turnovers, but still shot 50 percent from the floor in the half.
Artis led Pitt with 10 first-half points as the Panthers took a 39-32 lead into the locker room.
“Duke is a good team but we’re a better team and we showed it tonight,” Artis said.
Dominating the Glass- Pitt outrebounded the Blue Devils 39-20 on the afternoon and had nearly as many offensive rebounds (16) as Duke had total rebounds.
Chris Jones led Pitt with eight boards.
In addition, the Panthers defended well for a change, limiting Duke to just 37.5 percent from the floor and only 34.4 percent from behind the arc.
“Their defense was outstanding and their pursuit of the ball was even better,” Krzyzewski said. “They were superb and I’m not sure if we were. We were out of character.”
The defensive effort has been missing from the Panthers for most of the ACC season, but the effort against Duke was reminiscent of some old Pitt teams.
“We did it with defense and rebounding,” Dixon said. “We guarded the ball screen well and we contained the penetration well. But we didn’t give them many second shots and that was very important.”
Senior Day– James Robinson, Sterling Smith, Alonzo Nelson-Ododa, Rafael Mai and Mike Lecak were honored before the game.
Robinson, who has started more games than any player in Pitt history with 130, was well received by the Pitt crowd all afternoon and turned in an outstanding performance, also dishing out seven assists.
“I haven’t really been waiting for this,” Robinson said about his last home game. “I’ve wanted to enjoy every minute leading up to it. For me and the other getting this big win was the icing on the cake. The crowd was great. It’s sad that it was my last time playing in front of The Zoo. We have the best fans. This was a very special moment for me.”
Up Next: Pitt hits the road to take on Virginia Tech on Wednesday
Photo Credit: USA Today Sports
