After being thoroughly outplayed by San Diego State in the second round of the Maui Invitational by San Diego State, it was going to be interesting to see how Jamie Dixon’s Pitt Panthers responded.
They responded in very positive fashion by playing their best overall game of the season in a 70-47 victory over a solid Kansas State team Wednesday in the third-place game of the Maui Invitational.
James Robinson had 14 points and six assists and led four Pitt (4-2) players in double figures. Robinson also added two rebounds and four steals to the stat sheet.
More importantly, the Pitt defense made it tough on the Wildcats all night.
After allowing three straight opponents to shoot over 50 percent, the Panthers held Kansas State (3-3) to only 32.6 percent shooting from the floor, also limiting Kansas State to only 2-of-13 (.154) from behind the arc.
Meanwhile Pitt had an efficient day from the floor, knocking down 26-of-47 (.553) attempts, including a very impressive 8-of-15 (.533) night from three-point range.
The game was tight at the break, with Pitt holding a 30-27 at halftime. But the first five minutes of the second half prove to be the difference. The Panthers held Kansas State without a field goal over the first five minutes of the half and in the process was able to extend their lead to double digits.
Ryan Luther and Michael Young had 13 points apiece for Pitt while Jamel Artis finished with 10.
Kansas State was led by Thomas Gipson with 13 as Pitt held Marcus Foster, who was averaging 22 points per game throughout the first two games of the tournament, to just seven points on 3-of-9 shooting.
Pitt will be back in action on Tuesday night when they travel to Indiana.
Photo Credit: USA Today Sports
