Thanks again to Luke for running the liveblog. I scored significant brownie points with the wife for letting her go out with friends while I took care of the kids and delayed my watching. I’m cashing in those points to force the whole family to take a day trip to Pittsburgh in April for the Blue-Gold scrimmage/fanfest/whatever they are calling it. The indoctrination program for my kids must be reinforced.

So, on the gamewinner by Gibbs was a big story.

Ashton Gibbs stood for one fleeting moment in silence, his arm still raised in the same position it was when he took the shot.

Frozen time thawed soon after, as Gibbs’ Pitt teammates performed a collective embrace that pushed Gibbs from one end of the court to the other. The Petersen Events Center was again teeming, just like it had against Louisville, just like it had against West Virginia.

It’s been one of those seasons. Pitt has had things go its way more often than not. The question still has to be asked as to how Providence could give Gibbs such a clear line for a shot.

Player trying to keep rolling: Why anybody would let a guy who shoots 40 percent from 3-point range catch the ball, fly uninterrupted up the court and get off a 3-pointer in the final seconds is beyond me, but that’s precisely what the Providence Friars did Thursday night, and it cost them because Ashton Gibbs drained a long jumper at the buzzer to lift Pittsburgh to a 73-71 victory. The sophomore guard was 9 of 13 from the field and 6 of 9 from 3-point range. It’s doubtful he’ll need an effort like that Saturday to get Pitt past Rutgers. But it wouldn’t hurt, and I’m sure Jamie Dixon would welcome it.

Gibbs seemed nonplussed — not simply at the shot going — the defense.

“They backed off a little bit, but that’s what you expect,” Gibbs said of the final play. “I just wanted to be aggressive with it. It felt good as soon as I let it go.”

Which was Providence Coach, Keno Davis’ explanation.

Providence coach Keno Davis said the plan was to keep two defenders close to Gibbs but not to foul one of the nation’s best free-throw shooters.

“You don’t want any body contact,” Davis said. “The last thing you want is him going to the free throw line. You need to make him make a tough shot and we did — and he made it.”

Yes, but I found this bit of twittering from Andy Katz instructive.

Pitt’s Ashton Gibbs with the game winner. Adrian Branch here at the U made a great point on the difference between MSU-PSU and Pitt-PC.

MSU made PSU’s Talor Battle change direction, Providence didn’t do that for Pitt’s Ashton Gibbs. Gibbs made shot, Battle did not.

Gibbs was able to go straight into his shot, squared away to shoot. The shot may not have been right at the 3-point line, and there was  a Providence defender trying to distract by flying at him. But they never altered his line. It’s a subtle difference.

Providence didn’t play great defense, but they were more aggressive at trying to force turnovers. As expected, all the piling on for their lack of defense played a roll.

Coach Keno Davis said he felt his team has taken some unfair criticism from the media over his team’s defense in recent days, and despite Pitt hitting 53 percent from the field, he was happy with an effort that made the Panthers work hard and also forced 15 turnovers.

“We’ve gotten some unwarranted publicity about our team and our defense,” said Davis. “When you’re playing top eight teams every night, they can exploit you. We’re learning how to play defense and we’re getting better. Some of our young guys are going to have big, breakout years next year.”

Asked about PC’s defense on the winning shot, Davis said, “if I had to do it over, I’d do the same thing. You want two guys on the best player but you don’t want any body contact. You need him to make a tough shot and he did. You tip your hat to him.”

The guy who Pitt may see in nightmares was Jamine Peterson who exploded especially in the second half. In the first half, he scored 7 points of the Friars first 9 points but did grab 6 boards. The second half he had 17 points and 12 boards. He had a double-double in one half.

“He hurt us, no question,” coach Dixon said. “He’s very good. He hurts everybody.”

Then there was Jermaine Dixon having a big night on offense. Finally driving to the basket once more.

“Coach Dixon told me he wanted to see me drive more to the basket,” said the guard, who had 24 points on 11-of-18 shooting. “I haven’t been doing much offensively, but if I could get in and get a lay up or find somebody else open, it would help.”
…
“You can just see Jermaine is just starting to get more comfortable driving, slashing and finishing around the basket,” said Jamie Dixon.

All but saying that, yes, Dixon’s ankle and/or foot had been an issue lately.

Side things. Pitt was 20th in the ESPN.com power poll and 14th for SI.com — done before yesterday night’s game.