When the Pitt basketball team tips off the 2014-15 season against Niagara in about 30 minutes, they will do so without a major piece of their team. Jamie Dixon announced prior to the game that junior forward Durand Johnson will be suspended for the season. Dixon said in a statement: "Durand will remain with our program and practice. However, he will not compete in any games this season." It is not immediately known what has led to the suspension. Johnson was counted on to be a big ... Read More
Jamie Dixon: The nation’s best coach never to reach a Final Four?
The Pitt Panthers will begin the 2014-15 season on Friday with an exhibition contest against Indiana University (PA.). With the beginning of every Panthers season, it also begins the catcalls of fans who believe that Pitt would be better off with someone other than Jamie Dixon leading the program. I tend to always get a laugh out of that because Dixon has done a heck of a job as the Pitt head coach and while he has yet to lead the Panthers to the Final Four, you still have to believe that ... Read More
Future Looks Bright for Jamie Dixon’s Pitt Panthers
As usual, the summer months are a bit slow in terms of news surrounding the Pitt basketball team. But that also gives Jamie Dixon the opportunity to look towards the future in terms of recruiting. With that being said, it has been an interesting couple of months for Dixon and the Panthers. I will start with the basketball team where Dixon lost one of his top assistants for the second time when Barry Rohrssen decided to leave the program once again, this time to join John Calipari’s ... Read More
Pitt survives Virginia Tech in Double OT
Jamie Dixon’s No. 25 Pitt Panthers' basketball team hasn’t turned in a dominating performance over the course of their last three games. Pitt was hoping that would change with Virginia Tech visiting the Petersen Events Center Saturday afternoon. Unfortunately that wasn’t the case as the 8-14 Hokies (1-9 in ACC play coming in), losers of nine straight games, gave the Panthers all they could handle as Pitt needed a bit of luck to gut out a 62-57 double overtime victory, marking the first ... Read More
Panthers stunned at buzzer by Virginia
Trying to rebound from the loss to No. 17 Duke, No, 17 Pitt knew they would have their hands full Super Bowl Sunday with the Virginia Cavaliers. In a battle for second place in the ACC, Virginia, the second leading defensive scoring team in the nation, had success slowing Pitt down just enough and Malcolm Brogdon knocked down a three-pointer with .04 seconds remaining to break a 45-45 tie and give the Cavaliers a 48-45 win and sole possession of second place in the conference. For the ... Read More
Second Half dooms Pitt in loss to Duke
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 ... Read More
Pitt’s unselfishness continues to carry team
Throughout Jamie Dixon's era as the Pitt head coach, we have heard the fact that Pitt is an unselfish and defensive minded team about a thousand times. That mantra has carried the Panthers to outstanding success over the past decade plus, but during Pitt's first season in the ACC, they are taking playing unselfish, great team basketball to another level. One of the reasons that Dixon's teams have always relied on unselfish play is they never really had a go-to guy at the offensive end that ... Read More
Pitt improves to 3-0 in ACC with dominating performance vs. Wake Forest
Jamie Dixon’s Pitt Panthers made a big statement Saturday afternoon with a convincing 80-65 victory over Wake Forest in ACC action as the Panthers improved to 15-1 on the season and a perfect 3-0 to start their first season in the ACC. It was a game that Pitt dominated from the outset as they led wire to wire as unlike their first two conference games, the Panthers jumped on their opponent quickly from the opening tip. ‘That was nice,” said Pitt point guard James Robinson. “N.C. State ... Read More
Is Pitt ready to begin ACC play?
Saturday afternoon, the Pitt Panthers basketball program will make history as they take on North Carolina State in the inaugural ACC game in Pitt program history. Yet once the two team’s line up to tip things off, it will fulfill a long awaited moment for Jamie Dixon, Steve Pederson and everyone associated with Pitt athletics. However the question remains- is Pitt ready? On the surface, that’s not an easy question to answer as you simply don’t know. “We got a lot of positives out of ... Read More
Pitt improves to 12-1 with win over Albany
For a while Jamie Dixon’s Pitt Panthers basketball team experienced a bit of a holiday hangover, going 10 days in between games. But Pitt eventually figured things out en route to a 58-46 victory over Albany in the Panthers final non-conference game before beginning ACC play. Pitt (12-1) struggled big time shooting the basketball in the first half, going 0-for-7 from behind the arc and 0-6 from the free-throw line. But while Pitt couldn’t get a jump shot to go until Cameron Wright canned a ... Read More