It’s a desperation game for the Hoyas. That loss to the Hoopies at home was something they didn’t need if they hope to win the Big East (or even finish in the top-4). So, Pitt is going to have a really tough one. Especially if the Hoyas snap out of their 3-point shooting slump.
Pitt was up-and-down in its only true road game this season. Pitt has been hot shooting 3s, and they will probably need it again tonight.
The game is on ESPN at 7pm.
As usual, it’s a moderated chat overseen by Luke and myself. The liveblog is below, but if you need to break it out from the site, Click Here.
One could only wish the Coach could focus long enough to refer to Pitt, rather than “Syracuse.”
*Nice offensive effort in the first half. Sometimes good offense is just making shots. Wanamaker started out hitting some jumpers and then Gibbs picked it up and they even got some buckets inside and in transition.
*G-town’s front line is as bad as I’ve seen in the BE. When Julian Vaughan is your best inside presence, you’re in sad shape.
*Not sure who had Freeman most of the time, but he was forced into some tough jumpers and never seemed comfortable.
*Gilbert had a few of his usual clueless moments, but I don’t remember any really bad shots.
*Robinson is a really nice player to have on the break; he runs and finishes well.
*I understand that Dixon gives Zanna minutes when Taylor is in because he knows Taylor needs the help on the boards, but the two of them together don’t rebound as well as McGhee does alone.
*Glad Hazell is back or Saturday’s game would be close to unwatchable. I say close because watching Pope play is endlessly interesting because you can’t help wondering, if he were a different kid, how nice a player he could have been for Pitt
*Can’t wait until Monday. The ‘Cuse is for real and that will be a showdown. Glad it’s at the Pete.
The game really turned when Wright left the game with two fouls. He lit Pitt up last year.
Pitt’s team defense was much improved. G-town never exploited the match ups that were in their favor when pitt switched. Maybe because their bigs to do stink.
Still, Pitt gave up too many offensive rebounds to G-town. Need to shore that up before Monday.
Woodall needs to up his game a little. Zanna needs to get a few more minutes.
The second half got a bit sloppy after the opening run pushed the lead to 20+ and made things a little more tense than they needed to be. I think that was a combination of relaxing into a jump-shooting mode instead of working for shots and the fact that they were milking the clock a little too much before going on the attack. Jamie needs to work on that a bit and should get a chance against The Hall on Saturday. Hope the guys are experienced enough to stay focused on the game at hand and don’t get caught looking ahead to the big showdown on Monday.
Solid win. Next.
P.S. If Knight called us Syracuse one more time, I was going to book a flight to D.C. to strangle him! I love his observations, but he needs to know what teams he’s watching. The production crew should have assigned someone to keep saying “you’re watching Pitt” in his earpiece.
Also, how about the play of Gary McGhee? Man, I just love seeing it! His defense & rebounding has been very good all year, but now…the confidence on the offensive side, the bunny hook, the finishes (okay, the FTs could use a little more work….), but all-in-all some nice improvements.
We’re going to miss Gary next year…
