Throughout the years, the Pitt Men’s Basketball team has dominated the Duquesne Dukes.
Though the two campuses are separated by only a couple of miles, the success of their respective basketball programs make the two schools seem worlds apart.
Pitt entered Saturday’s City Game not only 6-0 on the season, but winners of 31-of the last 34 matchups against the Dukes. And it hasn’t been close as the Panthers have won each of the last 12 matchups by an average margin of 15.8 points per game.
For at least one half, the Dukes were prepared to do something about that streak. Pitt led only 39-35 at the half and the Dukes took a 44-41 lead in the second half before Pitt took off, eventually running away with an 84-67 victory.
Part of the reason for the big Panthers (7-0) win was the performance of guard Cameron Wright who had a career day finishing with 20 points, five rebounds, five assists, two steals and two blocks.
Wright was especially good during Pitt’s second-half surge.
After Duquesne’s Tra’Vaughn White hit a three-pointer to put the Dukes (2-3) up 44-41 less than three minutes into the second half, Pitt responded with a 12-0 run following a Jamie Dixon timeout.
Wright scored seven crucial points during the run, including a difficult layup in traffic in which he took a hard blow to the ribs from Duquesne’s Darius Lewis. After a jumper from Josh Newkirk and a convential three-point play from Lamar Patterson, the Pitt lead stretched to 56-45.
The Dukes never got closer than eight the rest of the way.
The Panthers started hot and led 14-3 just four minutes into the game. But the Dukes outscored Pitt 32-25 the rest of the first half to show Pitt they weren’t going away.
In addition to the big game from Wright, Patterson continued his outstanding play at the offensive end, scoring 18 points to go along with eight rebounds, six assists and five steals. Pitt also got a big game from senior Talib Zanna, who finished with 13 points and six boards. Durand Johnson also chipped in 11 points off the bench.
Duquesne was led in scoring by Ovie Soko, who finished with 17. Jeremiah Jones (13) and Derrick Colter(12) also finished in double figures for Duquesne.
At the end of the day, the Dukes showed that they have come a long way under second-year head coach Jim Ferry, but still have a ways to go before they compete with the Panthers on a regular basis.
Pitt is off until Tuesday when they play host to Penn State.
Photo Credit: Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports
