Pitt welcomed the Duke Blue Devils to the Petersen Events Center for the first time ever Monday night.
Judging by the success Duke had in the second half, they will gladly come back.
Jamie Dixon’s team made things easy for the Blue Devils during the final 20 minutes as Duke turned a close game at the half into a route, outscoring the Panthers 46-33 in the second half, en route to an 80-65 victory.
Duke (17-4, 6-2) shot 55 percent from the floor in the second half and 52 percent from three-point range on the night as the Panthers simply had trouble getting stops all night as the Blue Devils shredded Pitt’s man-to-man defense.
The 13 threes Duke knocked down were the most against the Panthers this season.
“It was all on the defensive end,” said Dixon. “Give Duke credit. They made shots and played well and we didn’t. Our breakdowns were plenty and often. I put that on me. I have to get the message across. We just can’t allow a team to shoot 52 percent from behind the arc.”
The two teams played a very entertaining first half that saw the Blue Devils take a 34-32 lead into the locker room.
Pitt (18-3, 6-2), inspired by a loud an energetic Oakland Zoo jumped out to a quick 8-2 lead, but Duke heralded freshman Jabari Parker proved very tough to stop, scoring 16 of his game-high 21 points in the game’s first 20 minutes.
Parker drained a pair of early threes but the Blue Devils made 6-of-11 attempts from behind the arc in the first half to keep the game close.
“He put up a lot more shots than anyone I have had to play against this year,” said Pitt freshman Michael Young. “We just made mental mistakes on switches and on hedges and we didn’t execute on defense.”
Pitt stayed in the game thanks to a balanced attack that saw seven different Panthers players find the score sheet in the first half. The Blue Devils held Lamar Patterson in check as Pitt’s leading scorer had only four first-half points. But the Panthers got a lift off the bench from freshman Jamel Artis, who knocked down a pair of triples and led all Pitt players with eight first half points.
The game stayed tight throughout the beginning of the second half as it stayed a one possession game for the first 11-plus minutes of the second half, but Pitt, despite pulling within one on many occasions, could never regain the lead.
Pitt trailed by only one with 9:30 left in the game before the Blue Devils exploded.
Duke’s Quinn Cook knocked down a corner three with just under nine minutes remaining to give the Blue Devils a 57-51 lead. Two trips later Duke’s Andre Dawkins supplied the dagger, draining a three from the left wing to give the Blue Devils a 60-51 edge.
“We put ourselves in a hole with our defense and rebounding,” said Dixon. “I point to the defense. If you can’t stop Duke, you can’t beat them. We didn’t get stops which also meant that we didn’t get transition baskets.”
Dawkins then hit another pair of threes to stretch the Duke lead to 13, which proved to be more than enough.
Despite Pitt keeping it close, they couldn’t get stops at the defensive end of the floor as Duke shot 75 percent (9-of-12) from the floor for a 12-minute stretch to start the second half.
“We didn’t execute on defensive in the second half,” said Pitt point guard James Robinson. “We kept it close and scored with them but we didn’t play defense in the second half.”
Duke also came into Pittsburgh and outrebounded Pitt 37-32 as Parker finished with a double-double, grabbing 11 boards, while teammate Amile Jefferson also had a double-double with 14 points and 10 rebounds.
Patterson finally got going for a moment and converted a three-point play and knocked down a shot from behind the arc, but his team-high 14 points proved to be too little too late.
For most of the game Duke’s Rodney Hood made it very tough for Patterson to even get touches, yet get good looks at the basket Hood finished with 13 points and knocked down three shots from behind the arc, but the job he did defensively made all the difference.
“Lamar is one of the best players in the conference,” said Duke head coach Mike Krzyzewski. “We have a good player in Rodney also and they kind of cancel each other out. Patterson is having a Player of the Year type season and Rodney went toe-to-toe with him. I’m just fortunate that we have a guy like him to play against Patterson. The way they went at each other, both of them have to be exhausted.”
Patterson echoed that sentiment as he finished only 4-of-14 from the floor and committed five turnovers on the night.
“They just denied me the ball the whole game,” said Patterson. “I got few looks but we didn’t defend and we didn’t rebound.
While Parker led the Blue Devils in scoring, Dawkins was the guy who killed Pitt, knocking down 6-of-7 three-point attempts, scoring 14 of his 20 points in the second half.
“We won a hard fought game,” said Krzyzewski. “Pitt is a great program and has a great team this year. This is our best win of the year given the quality of team we played and the venue. What a great place to play. Andre going 6-of-7 from three made all the difference. But Pitt is a great addition to what is the best basketball conference in the nation. Both teams played hard and it was a great basketball game. I’m really proud of my team.”
In addition to Patterson, Talib Zanna (11) and Robinson (10) both finished in double figures. Zanna also added 11 rebounds while Robinson led the Panthers with five assists.
The Panthers are off until Sunday when they play host to Virginia.
“We have to get back to work and get ready for Virginia,” said Dixon. “I have to work on getting the message across. We have to get to work defensively.”
Photo Credit: USA Today Sports
