Through three games, Pitt has shown it has a significant advantage over most opponents with its depth.

Many teams rotate a handful of players throughout games, but it appears few will be able to boast as much quality depth as the Panthers (3-0). Pitt plays Maryland (3-0) at 7 p.m. tonight at Madison Square Garden in New York as part of the 2K Sports Coaches vs. Cancer Classic, coming off easily its most glaring display of team depth.

All told, the Panthers bench combined to score 47 points Saturday in a 95-49 win against North Florida. They also totaled 26 of the team’s 59 rebounds, 14 of the team’s 26 assists and turned the ball over just twice.

“It shows that we’re deep,” guard Brad Wanamaker said. “Everybody works. We see it in practice — other guys get the best of other guys every day in practice. So we know everybody can score.”

But Saturday wasn’t an aberration. Three days earlier against Illinois-Chicago, the bench combined for 33 points in a 97-54 win. And in the season-opener against Rhode Island, Travon Woodall and Lamar Patterson came off the bench to combine for 12 points in a close 83-75 win.

Coach Jamie Dixon said that it all comes down to how players work and improve once arriving at Pitt. That has made the Panthers successful in the past and, while they haven’t always had the high-profile high school recruits, they’ve had success.

“We really care about not what guys are ranked (coming out of high school) but what they’re gonna be,” Dixon said. “Tell me about their ranking four years later. That’s the only thing we look at. Production is key.”

Dixon’s first man off the bench in all three games has been forward Dante Taylor. Taylor had his ups and down last year as a true freshman, seeing significant minutes in Big East play.

So far this year his development has be noticeable. Taylor is averaging 6 points and over 7 rebounds in just less than 16 minutes a game thus far. Against North Florida, Taylor pulled in 11 rebounds, 7 offensive.

“It’s always (important) for me to be active around the glass, get rebounds,” Taylor said. “That’s what I’m gonna do. I’m trying to be a good rebounder in the conference. It’s just the act of playing hard, going out there doing what coach wants.”

J.J. Moore led the Panthers in scoring against North Florida with 19 points and Woodall added 10 points and 5 assists. The two, along with Taylor, were spoken highly of by Dixon after the win.

“We’ve seen these guys improve and every one of these guys is a better player than they were last year,” he said. “That’s a great sign of their work ethic and commitment to what we’re doing and what they’re doing.”

Bench Highlights

Nov. 8 — Pitt 83, Rhode Island 75:
Woodall scored 7 points and added 3 assists while Taylor scored 2 points and pulled in 3 rebounds. Lamar Patterson added 4 rebounds, 3 offensive, 2 steals and 5 points in the win.

Nov. 10 — Pitt 97, Illinois-Chicago 54:
Taylor and J.J. Moore had 9 points each while Taylor dominated the glass with 8 rebounds, 7 offensive. All told, 11 Panthers saw the floor in the win.

Nov. 13 — Pitt 95, North Florida 49:
J.J. Moore scored 19, Taylor had 7 and Woodall added 5 assists and 10 points in the win. Pitt played a total of 12 players.

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Chris Gates | Area 4-1-Zoo Blog
Twitter.com/Chris_Gates
Chris.Gates@cbsradio.com

While Pitt’s 30-28 loss last Thursday at UConn seemed as debilitating as any this season, the Panthers are still in total control of the Big East.

At 5-4 overall and 3-1 in the conference, Pitt is assured the conference crown by winning out. Pitt has tiebreakers over Syracuse, Rutgers and Louisville, with remaining games against South Florida Saturday, West Virginia Nov. 26 and Cincinnati Dec. 4.

UConn is the only team that currently holds a head-to-head tiebreaker against the Panthers, but needs to win out and see Pitt lose at least one game for a chance at the Big East title.

All the equations, scenarios and guessing mean little to Pitt. The Panthers are focused solely on USF and believe that if they sustain that focus through the rest of the year they’ll end up where they want to be.

“That means nothing to us,” Wannstedt said of his team’s one-game lead in the Big East. “Right now we’ve gotta find a way to win a game. All that other stuff … no. We gotta win a game and get bowl eligible and go from there.”

Pitt can become bowl eligible with a win at South Florida Saturday, but it knows a win will only be made possible by limiting mistakes.

Thursday’s loss at UConn was full of miscues that cost the Panthers. Allowing a kickoff return for a touchdown, fumbling a kickoff, throwing two interceptions and allowing 200-plus yards rushing to Jordan Todman were just a few of their flaws.

“We all know that there’s no excuses for what happened in the game,” Jason Pinkston said. “We had two weeks to prepare and we made too many mistakes. It showed and we lost the game. There’s no excuses coming from our locker room. Guys know that it’s time to get back out there and bounce back.

“We have three games left and we need them all.”

According to Pinkston, it was Pitt beating Pitt Thursday night – something the Panthers don’t plan on doing again.

“It came down to us not them,” he said. “We made the mistakes, covering the kick or the passes, missing a blitz or missing a tackle. That’s on us. It wasn’t what they did it was what we did. So we gotta turn ourselves around.”

Scenarios:
*All these scenarios are based on each team winning its remaining games and the help they need to win outright.

The Outsiders:
Louisville, Cincinnati and Rutgers all have three Big East losses and are seemingly out of the championship conversation.

Pitt:
Win out. That’s it. As you’ll notice by reading on, the rest of the contenders have a mess on their hands.

South Florida:
USF has a more complicated formula. First, the Bulls need help with a UConn win against Syracuse. They also need WVU to drop at least one game. If that all happens and USF beats Pitt and UConn, the Bulls are conference champs.

Syracuse:
Syracuse has defeated both WVU and USF, which helps. However, Syracuse lost to Pitt, meaning the Orange need the Panthers to lose two games and beat UConn themselves.

UConn:
UConn benefits from its two conference losses being to Rutgers and Louisville because both will probably not factor in to a tiebreaker. It also benefits because its two conference wins are against West Virginia and Pitt — two teams likely to be there at the end. If UConn wins out and Pitt loses one game or more the Huskies are Big East champions.

West Virginia:
UConn has to be West Virginia’s best friend for the Mountaineers to win the Big East. While the ‘Eers need to win out, they also need to see UConn defeat Syracuse but lose to of either USF or Cincinnati or both.

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Chris Gates | Area 4-1-Zoo Blog
Twitter.com/Chris_Gates
Chris.Gates@cbsradio.com

The No. 5 Pitt Panthers improved to 3-0 on the season with a 95-49 win against North Florida at the Petersen Events Center.

J.J. Moore led the Panthers in scoring with 19 points, followed closely by Brad Wanamaker with 17. Wanamaker added 6 rebounds 2 assists and 4 steals.

“We played hard (and) we executed well,” Pitt coach Jamie Dixon said. “I thought we ran our offense pretty well. We got good shots, which enabled us to really hit the offensive boards as well.”

Pitt had a significant rebounding advantage, pulling in 59 total rebounds to just 28 for North Florida. In fact, the Panthers had more offensive rebounds, 32, than the Ospreys had total.

Pitt opened up an early 9-4 lead on five points from Wanamaker. The lead grew to 12 points, 18-6, at the 11:51 mark, as Travon Woodall hit his first of two three pointers on the afternoon.

Woodall later pushed the lead to 27-10 on a drive and layup. The Panthers continued to pile on and went in to halftime with a 48-21 lead.

Wanamaker pushed his point total to 15 early in the second half as Pitt went up 56-25. J.J. Patterson threw and alley opp to J.J. Moore to build a 65-27 Panthers lead with 12:13 to play.

“I just wanted to show coach how I play,” Moore said.

Moore scored 11 of his 19 points in the final 12 minutes as Pitt cruised the rest of the half to a 95-49 win.

Notes:

• Dante Taylor led the Panthers will 11 rebounds, 7 offensive. He added 7 points, 3 blocks and 1 assist.
• While Ashton Gibbs wasn’t one of the top scorers, as he had been the previous two games, he led the team in assists with 6. Gibbs scored 12 points Saturday afternoon.

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Chris Gates | Area 4-1-Zoo Blog
Twitter.com/Chris_Gates
Chris.Gates@cbsradio.com

Shutting down No. 5 Pitt likely won’t come easy for the opposition this year.

A good place to start, though, would be with the guard duo of Ashton Gibbs and Brad Wanamaker. The two have led the Panthers (2-0) in scoring in each of their first two games and complement each other with contrasting styles that can frustrate defenses.

Wanamaker has proven to be an effective driver, pushing tempo and finding lanes to the basket. Gibbs, on the other hand, has been able to create open looks and make good on jump shots from all over the floor.

The two know, if they can play like they have through two games, they’ll be difficult for defenses to handle.

“It’s gonna be very tough,” Wanamaker said when asked how he and Gibbs will be to defend. “I’m more of a driver and I’m a playmaker. Ashton’s a spot-up shooter, but he’s been creating his own shots, getting to the basket, so it makes him even more dangerous of a player. When you’ve got two people constantly attacking you all game it puts people on their heels.”

In an 83-75 season-opening win against Rhode Island, Wanamaker led the team with a career-high 24 points and 8 assists. Gibbs followed closely with 22 points.

In a 97-54 win over Illinois-Chicago Wednesday the script was flipped, as Gibbs put up 24 points and a career-high 7 assists while Wanamaker added 17 points and 9 assists.

All told, the two have combined for nearly half of Pitt’s season output in points. Needless to say, it’s a trend they’d like to have continue.

“They’re both getting other guys shots and making shots,” coach Jamie Dixon said. “That’s a good combination to have. I like that we are able to cut down their minutes, too.

“That makes them even more efficient as well. The numbers don’t lie. They’ve done it two games in a row.”

Another theme from the first two games has been production from the big men. Pitt has held a significant rebounding advantage in both contests, allowing for shorter defensive possessions and more second and third chances on offense.

Maybe the most glaring stat is 35 total offensive rebounds through two games. That’s 35 more opportunities to put the ball in the hoop, which Gibbs and Wanamaker appreciate.

“It helps us a lot, especially on the rebounding end of it,” Gibbs said. “At the same time it makes us more versatile. It’s not only a guard-oriented team, but we have big men who can really do work underneath as well.

“The best is yet to come.”

Gibbs used that final phrase several times in his post-game press conference after beating Illinois-Chicago.

Something his coach said was maybe even more telling for Pitt and the season Gibbs and Wanamaker could have.

“They’re much better players this year than last year, and they were pretty good last year,” Dixon said.

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Chris Gates | Area 4-1-Zoo Blog
Twitter.com/Chris_Gates
Chris.Gates@cbsradio.com

No. 5 Pitt advanced to 2-0 on its young season by defeating Illinois-Chicago, 97-54, at the Petersen Events Center Wednesday night as part of the 2K Sports Classic benefiting Coaches vs. Cancer.

Ashton Gibbs led the Panthers with 24 points and a career high of 6 assists, followed closely by Brad Wannamaker with 17 points.

“(Gibbs and Wannamaker) have been doing it for a while. They were pretty good the other night, too,” Pitt coach Jamie Dixon said after the game. “Their numbers speak for themselves. They’re good.

“It was a better day for Gilbert as he’s getting a little bit more comfortable. I really like our perimeter.”

Gilbert Brown and Travon Woodall were also in double figures with 12 and 10 points, respectively.

“I think (the perimeter) is a strength of ours,” Dixon said.

Pitt stormed to an early 22-8 lead as Brown and Wannamaker each had 9 points a piece. Gibbs came on as the half ended, putting up 10 points in the final 10 minutes to help the Panthers go in to halftime with a 43-29 lead.

Gibbs finished the first half 4-of-9 shooting — 3-of-7 from 3-point range — for 13 points in the first half. He said after the game that he was just taking the looks Illinois-Chicago gave, which included a lot of room from outside the arc.

“I think a lot of it had to do with our guards creating, kicking it to teammates for open shots” Gibbs said. “We just took advantage of it and knocked shots down.”

The Panthers’ lead grew to 20 just over four minutes in to the second half, 51-31. Pitt continued to make shots and pushed the lead to 30 and then 40 points. The Panthers largest lead of 45 points, 97-52, came with just 21 seconds left and many reserves on the floor.

All told, Pitt played 12 players in the game.

The Panthers finished the game shooting nearly 58 percent (37-of-64) from the field and over 52 percent (11-of-21) from 3-point range. They also outrebounded the Flames 45-25.

“We weren’t happy at halftime — coach Dixon wasn’t,” Gibbs said. “But we stressed defense in the second half and we came out strong and got the win.”

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Chris Gates | Area 4-1-Zoo Blog
Twitter.com/Chris_Gates
Chris.Gates@cbsradio.com

Not only did No. 5 Pitt kick off the 2010-11 Division-I basketball season Monday night, but it did so in unique fashion.

The Panthers (1-0) took on the challenge of playing Rhode Island (0-1), a team Pitt coach Jamie Dixon believes will finish the season in the top 40 in Ratings Percentage Index (RPI). Few highly ranked teams take on such an opponent in a season opener, but Dixon and his squad believe that playing a team like the Rams early on can only help as the year progresses.

“We’re up for the challenge,” guard Ashton Gibbs said. Gibbs scored 22 points in the Panthers’ 83-75 victory. “I think that’s the good thing about Pitt — tough players. Coach Dixon recruits that, he recruits tough-minded players.

“We played against great players each and every day in high school and now, carrying everything over to college, we’re not gonna back down to anything. Now it’s just about going out, playing our hardest and executing every game.”

Pitt and Rhode Island played in one of four games Monday night to tip off the regular season, all part of the 2K Sports Classic benefiting Coaches vs. Cancer. None had as competent of opponents as Pitt — No. 13 Illinois played UC Irvine, Texas played Navy and Maryland played Seattle.

The Illini, Longhorns and Terrapins all rolled to double digit wins.

“It will be a quality win at the end of the year,” Pitt coach Jamie Dixon said. “There’s not a lot of top 40 RPI teams around. Half of the teams in our conference are those teams.”

The Panthers won’t get a break, either. After a home game tonight against Illinois-Chicago and another Saturday against North Florida, the Panthers travel to Madison Square Garden in New York for games against Maryland and then either Illinois or Texas to complete the tournament.

Pitt will host mid-major programs with recent success as well — Robert Morris, Penn, Duquesne — along with Tennessee on Dec. 11 as well at Consol Energy Center. Not long after that the Big East Schedule begins.

For a team aspiring to win a national championship, Rhode Island was an early start to preparing for the NCAA Tournament.

“There’s a reason why teams don’t wanna play them, but there’s also a reason why we’re always top three in RPI over the last nine, 10 years,” Dixon said. “It’s because we play teams like this. We’re the ones that would agree to play them and we got the game we thought we’d get out of it.”

Pitt trailed the Rams by eight points with 1:31 to play in the first half, but utilized a 10-2 run before halftime to take a 1-point lead, 37-36. Both teams traded leads to start the second half, but the Panthers wore down Rhode Island as the second half progressed and made enough foul shots at the end to come away with the win.

“You could say it maybe felt like the tournament,” guard Brad Wannamaker said. “It was a pretty intense game, especially against a really good team early on in the season. We don’t usually play a team of this caliber early on, so I think it’s going to help us in the long run.”

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Chris Gates | Area 4-1-Zoo Blog
Twitter.com/Chris_Gates
Chris.Gates@cbsradio.com

The No. 5 Pitt Panthers overcame a sloppy first half against Rhode Island Monday at the Petersen Events Center to win their season opener, 83-75.

Pitt missed 9 layups to go along with 7 turnovers, while the Rams (0-1) capitalized with 14 points off turnovers in the first half to lead 36-28 with 1:31 left until halftime. That’s when Pitt (1-0) went on a 10-2 run that changed the complexion of the game.

Brad Wannamaker and Ashton Gibbs each scored 4 points in the final minute and-a-half and Lamar Patterson ended it with a slam dunk as time expired to give the Panthers a 37-36 edge at the half.

“Probably the biggest difference was we made layups from that point on in the second half,” Pitt coach Jamie Dixon said. “I joked that we did layups drills at halftime so that’s why we got better execution.”

Whatever happened at halftime worked, as the mistakes and miscues were more limited in the second half.

“We have a belief and theory that if you miss layups it oftentimes turns in to transition baskets the other way,” Dixon said.

“That’s what happened, for the most part. We always seemed to be matched up with different guys and trying to recover in transition. I think we just started making some layups, is really what happened (in the second half).”

Wannamaker was the most consistent for Pitt on the night, scoring 24 points and adding 8 assists. He shot 7 of 13 from the field and made 10 of 13 from the free throw line. Much of Wannamaker’s production came from creating his own shots – driving to the hoop and finishing, which many of the Panthers struggled to do.

Gibbs wasn’t far behind Wannamaker in production, putting 22 points on the board and hitting two 3-pointers.

“We missed a lot of easy points,” Gibbs said. “That’s something we probably won’t do next game and for games to come. We got this first game under our belt and it’s a relief. Now we just gotta keep moving.”

Rhode Island didn’t seem overly fazed by Pitt’s first-half run, coming out in the second half and quickly grabbing the lead back. All told, the Rams took the lead five different times in the second half, the last of which came with 14:10 left.

The Panthers grabbed a 51-50 lead at that point on a 3-pointer by Gilbert Brown and never looked back. Pitt’s second-half lead grew to as large as 8 points with 5:08 left and the Panthers overcame three late 3-pointers by Rhode Island’s Delroy James to win.

“They made some 3s – tough 3s – and that’s what really kept the game close,” Dixon said. “At the end of the day, we made plays at the end, made free throws and ran clock at the end and executed and finished plays and got baskets when we needed to.”

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Chris Gates | Area 4-1-Zoo Blog
Twitter.com/Chris_Gates
Chris.Gates@cbsradio.com

Freeport did things the unconventional way in a 27-13 victory over visiting Summit Academy in Class AA Allegheny Conference play Friday night.

Freeport (6-3, 5-2) blocked a punt, returned one for a touchdown and scored on an interception return. Freeport clinched third place in the conference and is headed to the WPIAL playoffs, which start next week.

“All season long, we’ve been doing pretty well offensively, and our special teams kind of slacked off,” coach John Gaillot said. “The offense started struggling (last night), but that’s just the type of kids we have. We found a way.”

Freeport opened the scoring in the second quarter when quarterback Brendan Lynch and Sean Liberto connected on two passes to move the Yellowjackets to the Summit Academy 1-yard line. Lynch finished the drive with a 1-yard run.

With under two minutes to play in the first half, Summit Academy’s Lorenzo Ward heaved a ball that was tipped and pulled in by Freeport defensive back Jason VanTine, who went 40 yards along the right sideline for a touchdown.

Summit Academy’s Khalil Thomas took the subsequent kickoff 71 yards to the Freeport 20. Ward threw a 10-yard touchdown pass to Frederick Bender before halftime.

It was all Freeport in the second half. Liberto broke four tackles and sprinted down the right sideline for a 59-yard punt return for a touchdown with 5:03 left in the third quarter.

Summit Academy (3-6, 2-6) answered with a touchdown, but Freeport answered with a drive that milked the clock. Senior running back Jake Campbell scored on an 18-yard run to seal the victory.

“We were just running, trying to play tough offense, pounding it down,” Campbell said. “It was nice — definitely the way to end it.”

California quarterback T.D. Conway found Dakota Conway three times for touchdowns in the first half Friday night against Jefferson-Morgan, giving the Trojans all the offense they would need in a 31-6 win.

After a scoreless first quarter, T.D. Conway lobbed a ball just over the reach of a Jefferson-Morgan defender to connect with brother Dakota for a 29-yard touchdown reception on the first drive of the second quarter. Later, the two scored from 29 yards out again in nearly the same fashion.

T.D. rolled left and found Dakota near the left sideline. Dakota pulled in the ball, fought off a defender and tiptoed down the sideline for a 14-0 lead with 3:51 remaining in the first half. T.D. lobbed another ball to Dakota for a 5-yard score with 53.9 seconds left in the half.

“It’s fun to watch those two go at it,” California coach Brady Barbaro said. “They’ve been valuable. They have a ton of chemistry.”

T.D. Finished the first half 9-for-14 passing for 162 yards and three touchdowns, while Dakota pulled in four catches for 70 yards in the opening two quarters.

“We’ve been throwing for a long time together, and he knows where I’m gonna be,” Dakota said. “I know where he’s going to throw it. We just executed.”

The third quarter was much like the first, with both teams swapping possessions and neither able to score. Jefferson-Morgan failed to score twice with good starting field position deep in California territory.

California opened up the fourth with another touchdown drive, this time ending in a 5-yard touchdown run by Brandon Michaux. It appeared the Trojans would have to punt, but punter Josh Boothe faked a rugby-style punt and ran 26 yards for a first down on fourth-and-20.

Michaux scored on the next play for a 28-6 lead. Nazareth Victoria added a 24-yard field goal at the end for a 31-6 final.

“We’re hungry,” Dakota said. “We’re trying to win out and make the playoffs. It’s not gonna be easy, but this one was good.”

With a 13-3 lead over Louisville and just over a minute left in the third quarter, Pitt was floundering.

Louisville was in the midst of a 16-play drive that was approaching nine minutes in length. The Cardinals appeared to be on their way to a touchdown and newfound life. That’s when Pitt defensive end Jabaal Sheard struck as he has so many times this season.

At Pitt’s 34, Froman dropped back to pass on a third-and-7 and was swiftly joined in the backfield by Sheard, who sacked Froman and forced a fumble. Defensive tackle Myles Caragein picked up the ball and ran 56 yards the other way to the Louisville 5.

The Panthers punched it in three plays later for a 20-3 lead and the win, advancing to 5-3 overall and 3-0 in the Big East.

“Jabaal Sheard is just having a phenomenal year,” Pitt coach Dave Wannstedt said after Saturday’s win.

Sheard finished the game with four tackles, two of which were solo. He also had two sacks and two forced fumbles on a day that typified the type of season he is having.

“I think Jabaal’s the best player in the Big East, regardless of position,” Pitt defensive back/linebacker Dom DeCicco said. “You just really watch him and he dominates, getting blocked by two or three guys. Without him our defense would be a lot different.”

The defense has been a lot different since defensive end Greg Romeus was sidelined with a back injury that required surgery after just one game. The Pitt defense appeared doomed, given the fact that Romeus was named to virtually every award watch list he was eligible for.

However, Sheard has made many forget about Romeus’s absence by compiling 30 tackles – 12 for loss – and nine sacks in eight games.

“He’s rushing the passer as good as any defensive end in the country,” Wannstedt said. “He’s focused every week and he’s working extremely hard.”

When Sheard is sacking the quarterback or pinning running backs down for losses he is helping out the rest of the defensive line. Sheard’s success has drawn the attention of most opposing coaching staffs.

Now Sheard typically has two or three blockers in his way, trying to keep him out of the backfield.

That has only opened up more room for his fellow linemates to do their best Sheard impression.

“They’ll do a lot of chipping, they’ll slide away and bring the back to him,” Caragein said. “So he’ll have to defeat two, sometimes even three blockers to get to the quarterback. With them doing that, that frees up the inside and the backside edge.

“So, even though it seems like he’s getting taken out of the play, he’s actually helping the defense as a whole — giving some single blocks on the inside and the backside end.”

Thus, defensive end Brandon Lindsey, who has filled in for Romeus, has been able to compile 26 tackles and 8 sacks this season. Defensive tackle Chas Alexih has 28 tackles and 4.5 sacks.

And Caragein has 16 tackles, 1 sack and one very memorable fumble recovery.

“I feel like that definitely changed the momentum in the game,” Caragein said.

“They were having a great drive. They were moving, picking up some first downs. It was getting a little frustrating for the defense (since) they were converting. Jabaal made a nice move. I saw the ball, picked it up and I feel like that really turned the momentum in the game.”

And it kept the Panthers perfect, enhancing their chances of winning the Big East and reaching a BCS bowl for the second time in program history and first since Jan. 1, 2005.

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Chris Gates | Area 4-1-Zoo Blog
Twitter.com/Chris_Gates
Chris.Gates@cbsradio.com