Pitt put this game out of reach early and then coasted in the second half. Lehigh never had a chance at Pitt. They made a brief run in the first half to get within 3 points (it was 4 points until the commercial break when the officials reviewed a shot to determine it was really a 3 by Lehigh). From that point, Pitt went on a 22-2 run in a bit under six minutes. Lehigh never got the deficit under 20 until the final couple minutes.

The first half was Talib Zanna inside and Durand Johnson outside.

Johnson said that his hot game started the previous game when he was 0-for-4 from the 3-point line. It made him hungry to work on his game and make sure he never had a shooting game like that again.

“After the last game, I was down on myself,” he said. “I felt bad, I was 0 for 4 and I’m a shooter, so I got in the gym and got a lot of shots off and I realized I wasn’t jumping as much as I need to when I was shooting them so I worked on it and came out ready.”

[James] Robinson said that Johnson’s offense off the bench is a nice perk for the Panthers, but he is a much more complete player than people give him credit for.

“It is great to know when he comes in he will bring energy and enthusiasm,” Robinson said of Johnson. “And when he is scoring like that, it just adds to it. He is much more complete player than a scorer, he brings energy and athletic he is a lot better passer now.”

I do agree with James Robinson. Johnson has been much more in the flow of the games. Not just settling in a corner with his arm raised for a pass (regardless of where the ball is on the court or if he is being guarded) to come to him.

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Sorry about the site being down for a few hours. Hosting company had some problems today.

Looks like DVR delay tonight due to work. So just a brief window to toss this up for the game.

The game is on ESPNU at 7:30.

Well, not in a competitive way. Just, you know, the second straight year of having them come to the Pete. Once more in the guise of an arranged game in the Progressive Legends Classic. Last year it was for the NIT Tip-Off Classic. The common thread for Pitt is that these preseason tournaments put Pitt in the NYC area. Something that Coach Jamie Dixon wants every year. Both for alumni support in that area and recruiting.

Lehigh is not as good as they were last year with C.J. McCollum graduated. Sporting News picked them for 3d in the Patriot League, and honestly, they haven’t looked that good. They lost to Minnesota, Fordham and recently to potential Legends Classic opponent — Houston.

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You can have the best facilities. A world-class training staff. Everything you need or could possibly want. And injuries will still happen. Just ask Florida this year. Or just go back to the 2011 season.

Pitt had a couple early bye weeks in the first half of the season and has now played six straight games. It can’t be terribly surprising that injuries are starting to happen with what seems increasing frequency.

Cornerbacks Trenton Coles and Titus Howard were the latest to join that group this week, as Pitt has suffered through a rash of injuries over the past few weeks, costing them a number of starters and key contributors.

In addition to the two cornerbacks, starting left guard Cory King (hamstring) and left tackle Adam Bisnowaty (back) also missed a 34-27 loss Saturday against North Carolina. Backup tight end Scott Orndoff has missed the past two games and appeared on the field for warm-ups Saturday with a sizable brace on his left leg. Defensive end Ejuan Price has missed the past four games with a back injury.

Add in (hopefully) a minor ankle to Devin Street and knee injury to Tom Savage and everyone begins to wonder.

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Fourth and one on the UNC 26 yard line. Down by seven, Pitt needed a touchdown to tie the game. This was their last chance to score, so obviously a failure on fourth down meant a fourth loss in six games. There are a lot of options on fourth and one, especially given the first down will stop the clock, so designing a play to get out of bounds isn’t necessary. Just get the one yard and you still have over a minute to go to get the remaining 25 yards to tie the game.

Chryst opted to give the ball to Conner on a deep handoff. A lot of people criticized this decision. I heard things like “if Chryst had balls he would’ve thrown it” and “of course the struggling running game wouldn’t get one measly yard. Without the ability to see the future, was it the right call? (more…)

When talking about the 2-3 zone last week, I mentioned how disastrous it was when Pitt attempted to use it back in 2011-12. That was nothing compared to what Pitt did to Howard’s attempt at using the 2-3 zone.

Howard coach Kevin Nickelberry blamed it on the Bisons (2-3) packing the paint in a zone defense, allowing Pitt to penetrate and kick out to shooters.

“I told them the bigs can’t beat us, the guards have to beat us — and the guards killed us,” Nickelberry said. “We tried to cut off what we thought was the head of the dragon.”

Howard lacks big guards, so packing inside on a zone was practically begging Pitt to shoot over the zone. And that is what Pitt did. Getting wide-open looks from outside.

A reasonable person would say it wasn’t an unsound strategy upon reviewing Pitt’s 0-11 3-point shooting in the prior game. But even the biggest optimist on Howard’s staff would have to concede that it wasn’t a shooting performance that would be repeated. Instead Pitt decimated Howard from outside. Shooting 6-8 on 3s in the first half.

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Sort of a grudge match for Howard since Pitt pasted them last year, 70-46. (Anyone buying it? No? Moving on.)

The Bison are at .500 at the moment. They may have been thrashed by Old Dominion and Harvard but they dominated other opponents.

A revamped men’s basketball team is off to a 2-1 start after starting the season last weekend in Burr Gymnasium. The Bison defeated Washington College 69-52 last Friday and routed Gwynedd Mercy University 83-66 on the following Sunday afternoon.

Howard has not won the first two games of the season in over a decade, and with 10 new precocious freshman, more wins hope to follow over the next four years.

Optimism about Howard basketball. It’s the end of times.

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…In the end it ended with a loss.

On the plus side, at least Pitt didn’t lose to a team that hadn’t won a conference game since 2010. How ’bout them Jayhawks!

I can’t bog you down with too much on the game. I missed the first half because of work. So I didn’t see Savage take a first half beating behind an O-line that went back to what it has done in most ACC games — get blown past by oppsoing D-lines. The a big question mark of whether Voytik was going to be at QB for the second half. Didn’t see the first special teams breakdown. Didn’t see Pitt’s defense not stop UNC QB Marquise Williams on the ground — even though we all knew what he was going to do. Didn’t see the missed opportunities — interception dropped and fumble in the redzone. I really am not sure I have to stomach to go back and watch that first half.

So I joined the action with Pitt down 24-3 after halftime.

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I’m not sure if Chas is able to post this so I figured I’d throw this up. Here’s my game preview. Unfortunately Adam Bisnowaty is out for the game, Dorian Johnson starts in his place.

The football team may have just landed their biggest recruit of the year with RB Chris James. James announced his commitment via twitter a few minutes ago and he’s exactly what this team is missing: a game breaking RB. James is a 3 star back on Rivals, 247, ESPN, and a 4 star on Scout. Here are some highlights from hudl. James chose Pitt over offers from a long list including Tennessee, Wisconsin, Georgia Tech, and Michigan State. (more…)

Sorry. Not a lot of time today, so I kind of have to keep it shallow.

Paul Chryst gets effusive about UNC’s tight end, Eric Ebron.

“You love watching him on tape, and then all of a sudden you’re like, ‘Shoot, we’ve got to play him,’” Chryst said. “He’s good, and I love a good tight end.”

That would have 12-year-old me 16-year-old me 22-year-old me Oh, hell it still has me snickering.

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All the other Pitt basketball links not tied into the game.

Early signing period for the 2014 class started yesterday. Pitt was drama free with both Sheldon Jeter and Ryan Luther signing their NLIs. Welcome. (No official press release yet, but recruitniks have tweeted out that both signed.)

I talked about how I expect more utilization of the zone because of the rule enforcement earlier. Missed this article that makes the same point. Get used to seeing a lot of articles pro and con (and, generally a lot of bitching) about the new emphasis on enforcing the rules. Mike DeCourcy had a good one before the season started that really summed up a lot of the reasons why the NCAA decided to get tighter with the rules.

It’s the coaches who’ve injected the physicality into the game, gradually asserting their value over the past 15 or so years by instructing players to use their hands to contain penetration, to bump cutters trying to execute intricate offenses, to push players out of post position with forearms to the tailbone.

No one who is not affiliated with the teams or necessary for the competition to proceed, such as the clock operator or referees, is permitted to attend the closed Division I scrimmages teams are permitted to schedule. But there has been lots of buzz about how foul-plagued some of them have been, such as one involving Huggins’ Mountaineers and the Ohio State Buckeyes.

There’ve been some exhibition games that turned into foul fiascoes, as well. Dayton and Division II power Findlay combined for 96 free throw attempts last weekend.

There is a reason this is happening. The players are fouling.

I really don’t mind the rules emphasis. I don’t think it puts Pitt at any true competitive disadvantage. Watching the first couple of games you can see that they players are being taught to do different things in an effort to adjust. A lot more movement with the hands on defense. Trying to disrupt line of sight and get the ball out of the opponent’s hands. It won’t be pretty at times, but it was needed.

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When a team throws out an effective zone defense it can surprise both the other team and the the fans. That’s what Pitt did to Fresno State on Tuesday night.

Pitt has used the zone increasingly in the last few years. The results have not always been as effective. In that lost 2011-12 season, the zone was used more out of desperation than anything else. It did not go well. No, it did not.

Last year Pitt would use the zone effectively in small bursts. Just to change things up if a team was getting too many easy buckets. But quickly they would drop back into the man defense.

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The UNC Tarheels are heading to Pittsburgh in a matchup between two teams desperate for a win. Both need a win to continue to change the perception of their season; UNC wants to prove they’re better than their 1-5 start and Pitt is eager to grow off of the Notre Dame upset that may have been a season-changer. UNC is hot; they’ve won three straight games by an average of 21 points. Pitt has lost two of their last three, but last week’s upset suggests they may be ready to put their mid-season struggles behind them. It’s safe to say UNC and Pitt have reasons to be optimistic headed into Saturday’s contest. (more…)

Momentum? Momentum is the next day’s starting pitcher.

Possibly Earl Weaver’s greatest quote that doesn’t include a string of expletive deleteds.

I thought about that quote shortly after Pitt’s win over ND. The euphoria of the win still lingering in the air as I left Heinz Field. Hearing people talking about how this could carry to the next game and so on. Reading it the next day in various comments. Then seeing it become a short piece.

As Chryst pointed out after the game and again at his news conference Monday, whether or not the Panthers seize the momentum they gained Saturday is yet to be seen.

“It was a good night, and something we can move forward with,” Chryst said. “The thing that I was most proud of is the way the guys kept playing. You look at that tape and compare it to previous games, and it wasn’t a different team, wasn’t different guys. We just made some plays at the right situations and found a way to win.”

And another.

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