What can you say. Duquesne tried to stay close in the first half. But the second half Pitt just started running them off the court. Pitt outscored Duquesne 50-26 in the second half. The final score was 87-57. None of the Pitt starters played more than 29 minutes. The stories are here, here and here. I listened to most of the game via the Duquesne broadcast, and the announcers were just flailing about in the second half trying to find some positive spin to put on what was happening.

I guess it’s a shame this game doesn’t actually mean more. No sport is ever as good without a deep, long-standing, hated rival. Pitt really lacks that in basketball.

Still, no time to really think about this game. Pitt has its first real test on Tuesday against Memphis in NYC. Saw the second half of the Memphis-Purdue game on Friday night. Memphis plays a strong interior defense. Looked like a lot of man-to-man. Not sure how much time the Pittsburgh dailies will put into the game despite the local ties (John Calipari). The Steelers rule the roost of the sports sections on Monday, plus Pitt football has most of the rest of the attention.

I’m excited though. The game will be on ESPN so it will be the first game I get to see this year.