The Pitt Panthers basketball team has made it a habit of winning some big games the past three weeks. That could be enough to send them to another NCAA Tournament. If the Panthers do go dancing in March, they may have one man to thank for it- forward Sheldon Jeter. Since receiving a bump in minutes the past few weeks, Jeter has begun to emerge as the player Pitt head coach Jamie Dixon thought he would have at the beginning of the season. Sometimes you just need an opportunity and Jeter ... Read More
James Robinson helps lift Pitt to upset over Notre Dame
Pitt Panthers’ junior guard James Robinson scored the Panthers first five points of the game, but it was what Robinson did at the end of the game that meant the most as Pitt put an end to a three-game losing streak with a 76-72 upset of No. 8 Notre Dame Saturday afternoon at the Petersen Events Center. Pitt watched an eight-point lead disappear throughout the game’s final three minutes and trailed by one with 12 seconds left after Robinson missed a free throw and Jerian Grant knocked down a ... Read More
Pitt must stack wins together to get back onto tournament bubble
One place we rarely see the Pitt Panthers basketball team is on the NCAA Tournament bubble. But after Tuesday’s loss to Virginia Tech, the Panthers are going to need to put a couple of quality wins on their resume the rest of the way, just to become a bubble team come March. They can start that this Saturday against Notre Dame, but that is easier said than done with this young Pitt team. At 13-8 on the season, this Panthers team doesn’t have a quality win on their resume to date. For ... Read More
Panthers downed by hot shooting Louisville
You aren’t going to win many games when you can’t stop the opposition and the Pitt Panthers found that stopping the Louisville Cardinals on Sunday was a near impossible task. The Cardinals made a whopping 71 percent of their field goal attempts in the first half and cruised to an 80-68 victory, dropping the Panthers to 3-4 in ACC play on the season. The No. 10 ranked Cardinals are one team that hasn’t found trouble winning at the Petersen Events Center as they improved to 4-1 on the ... Read More
Pitt needs a lot more from James Robinson
Coming into the season, it was expected that we would see more of a scoring role from Pitt’s junior point guard James Robinson. That hasn’t exactly happened. With the Panthers in the middle of a brutal part of their schedule for the next month or so, it goes without saying that if Pitt is to have a chance at reaching the NCAA Tournament, they need a lot more from Robinson. The DeMatha Catholic High School product has long been one of the more underappreciated point guards in the nation. ... Read More
Pitt falls victim to Duke long-range attack
The Pitt Panthers haven’t visited Cameron Indoor Stadium in 36 years. After watching the Duke Blue Devils put on a shooting display from behind the arc, they may wait 36 more years before they come back. No. 5 Duke shot 48 percent from three-point range and Blue Devils’ head coach Mike Krzyzewski moved one victory from 1,000 for his Hall of Fame career as Duke cruised to a 79-65 ACC victory. Pitt’s Jamel Artis turned in a second consecutive outstanding game, leading the team with 21 ... Read More
Pitt preparing for tough guantlet of ACC games
After putting up back-to-back ACC victories to move to 3-2 in the conference, Jamie Dixon’s Pitt Panthers are about to find out how difficult conference play can be beginning Monday night. Beginning with a trip to Cameron Indoor Stadium to take on No. 4 Duke, the remainder of the Panthers schedule shapes up as a very tough gauntlet for a young team to run. Needless to say, if Pitt doesn’t win some big games during this upcoming stretch, there’s a good chance that they won’t be dancing come ... Read More
Pitt gets defensive in win vs. Georgia Tech
Jamel Artis scored 16 of his 20 points in the second half and the Pitt Panthers held Georgia Tech scoreless for a five-minute stretch late in the game as Pitt squeaked out a 70-65 victory Saturday afternoon, improving to 3-2 in the ACC. In a game where each possession was a grind, Pitt (13-5, 3-2 ACC) held the Yellow Jackets to just 40 percent shooting on the afternoon, while getting just enough offense of their own to get by. “We did a lot of good things,” said Jamie Dixon. “We have some ... Read More
Jamie Dixon gets win No. 300 as Pitt defeats Florida State
Michael Young scored 16 points and grabbed 12 rebounds, but it was little used Aron Phillips-Nwankwo that helped spark a run that helped the Panthers defeat Florida State. After being outrebounded by 17 Saturday in a loss to Clemson, Pitt head coach Jamie Dixon promised to use a bigger lineup to try and fix the Panthers rebounding woes. Nwankwo got 12 minutes off the bench and made them count, sparking a 16-3 second-half run that broke a tie game and helped propel the Panthers to a 73-64 ... Read More
Pitt must figure out rebounding issues before it is too late
Watching the Pitt Panthers play basketball this season, there is one glaring weakness on Jamie Dixon’s team- rebounding. Dixon has always preached rebounding and usually his teams deliver, but this season crashing the glass has become a major problem for the Panthers. Usually one of the top rebounding teams in the nation, Pitt finds themselves ranked just No. 196 in the country, pulling down just 34.6 boards per contest. Things hit an all-time low during Saturday’s home loss against ... Read More