For a change this season the Pitt Panthers had a fight on their hands.
While most of their non-conference schedule has resulted in blowout wins, the Panthers needed all 40 minutes to take care of visiting Western Carolina 79-73 in the final game of the Gotham Classic Wednesday night at the Petersen Events Center.
Pitt trailed with just over two minutes remaining, but a Chris Jones three-pointer with 2:20 remaining gave the Panthers a 68-66 lead. Sheldon Jeter followed with a monster dunk and subsequent free throw to up the lead to 71-66 and Pitt made their free throws down the stretch to win their 10th game of the young season.
Jamel Artis led all scorers with 29 points. Artis also added eight rebounds and four assists in the win. Michael Young and Jeter both finished with 12 points and six rebounds while James Robinson had a nice night finishing with 11 points, nine assists and seven rebounds.
Western Carolina (4-8) was led in scoring by guard Rhett Harrelson with 21.
“Give them credit,” said Pitt head coach Jamie Dixon. “They are well coached. We knew they are a good and tested team. I thought we could have played better, but we did down the stretch. We haven’t had a close game since the Purdue game so that was probably a good thing for us. Sheldon and Chris hitting jumpers really got us going.”
Pitt trailed by seven with just over five minutes left but outscored the Catamounts 25-12 down the stretch.
“Urgency is always a factor,” said Robinson. “I think we lacked it early on, but down the stretch we were able to turn it up and guys made plays. Chris made a big three and Sheldon made a couple of plays. Obviously Jamel carried us offensively for the majority of the night, but we just stuck together as a team. We could have easily folded.”
Game of Runs– Pitt (10-1) started slow and before you knew it trailed 11-4 as the Catamounts put together an 8-0 run behind a couple of three-point shots from senior Rhett Harrelson. The Panthers answered though behind a hot stretch that saw them make eight consecutive shots from the floor. Pitt put together a 16-4 run to take a 26-20 lead, which would be their biggest of the first half.
Jamel Artis was big for Pitt early, scoring 13 of his 29 points in the first half. But the Panthers, who shot 52 percent (13-for-25) from the floor in the opening 20 minutes, couldn’t extend their lead as they missed their next seven attempts from the floor.
Harrelson kept the Catamounts in it early with 12 of his 21 points in the first half as Pitt led only 37-32 at the break.
Western Carolina took the lead with a 22-7 second-half run, before Pitt put things away with a 25-12 spurt to close the game.
“I don’t think we were sluggish,” said Jeter. “I just don’t think we came out with the aggressiveness we usually have.”
Looking Forward to the Holidays- While Western Carolina was here to fight, the Panthers were very sloppy at times, almost overlooking the Catamounts.
Pitt turned the ball over 14 times on the night which led to 17 Western Carolina points and kept the Catamounts in the game.
“I wasn’t happy with the turnovers,” said Dixon. “We just turned it over too much and we didn’t get to enough loose balls which turned into open jumpers for them.”
In addition, while the Panthers shot 50 percent on the night, they struggled big time from behind the arc, making just 2-of-13 attempts on the night. A lot of that was due to Western Carolina switching defenses on almost every possession.
“We wanted to get them out of rhythm offensively,” said Western Carolina head coach Larry Hunter. “They are so good, they play smart and have so many weapons. I thought hanging defenses was effective for us for the most part.”
Getting to the Charity Stripe- For a change, the Panthers have been very solid from the free-throw line on the season and that continued as they made 29-of-33 (87.9 percent) attempts on the night. That included making 12 consecutive attempts down the stretch.
Robinson made 9-of-10 attempts, Artis 8-of-8 and Young knocked down all six of his chances.
“It was good to see a bunch of guys step up the last minutes of the game and knock down clutch free throws,” said Robinson. “It won the game for us tonight and we are going to need everyone to keep knocking down free throws as we head into conference play.”
Bench Coming up Huge- Late in the game, both Jeter and Jones were on the floor and both came through in a big way to give the Panthers a big spark. Jeter brought energy at both ends of the floor and knocked down a few big shots while Jones’ three got the Panthers on a roll the final couple of minutes.
“I just wanted to come in and play hard,” said Jeter. “I kept my energy up and shots were falling. I was diving all over the floor just trying to do what I could.”
Up Next- Pitt will be off until Wednesday December 30 when they open up ACC play when they host rival Syracuse.
“Starting ACC play with Syracuse is big,” said Artis. “It’s a rivalry game. It will be intense. We are ready. We just have to come out and do what we do best.”
Photo Credit: USA Today Sports
