Weak effort I know, but it was a late night and an early start. I felt obliged to make some sort of weather reference.

Unlike the past few games it did not take long for the offense to get going. Pitt came out with purpose on offense. Finishing at the rim and not nearly so much settling for jumpers early. The defense, though, took a little more time to get going.

Some of that has to do with Maryland and their style. They like to take a lot of threes, so there are points where it can help keep you in the game or shoot you right out of it. In the first half, it kept them in the game with 4-10 shooting from outside. It gave the Terrapins some more room inside, giving them more opportunities on the boards.

But Pitt was able to answer. Durand Johnson who may or may not have been ill on Saturday, but was definitely not played much because of his play — was a big spark last night.

Trailing at halftime 36-30 after the Panthers closed the half on a Johnson-led 11-2 run.

When Patterson was asked after the game what sparked Pittsburgh’s run into halftime, he pointed to Johnson, sitting next to him on the podium in the press room.

“This man,” Patterson said.

Johnson had 10 points halftime, but said it was his team’s defense that made the difference. Johnson was coming off a game when he played just eight minutes and failed to score in a win at North Carolina State. He had been benched because of his lack of defense.

“We just play hard, [head coach Jamie] Dixon gets on a lot on the defensive end and that’s where it starts,” Johnson said. “We all buy into it. We all played hard, we made a run and we got it going…We turned it into a 20-point win.”

And after the game, Coach Jamie Dixon echoed what so many of us keep saying about Durand Johnson.

“He gives us other things,” Dixon said, noting that Johnson also had three rebounds, three assists, two steals and a blocked shot in 23 minutes. “I explained this to him, and I think he was in shock, but I think he can help us in other ways even if he doesn’t score. … His energy and how hard he plays is what allows him to get better. I want him to know that he doesn’t have to make shots.”

When Johnson is engaged, he is a solid defender. His natural athleticism and talent are obvious. Those reasons that some scream to play him more are the same reasons so many also get frustrated watching him. Last night he took his usual 4 or so threes, but went to the basket just as much.

It wasn’t just Johnson snapping out of his funk. Lamar Patterson and Talib Zanna continue to lead the team (Zanna fell one rebound shy of another double-double). James Robinson was efficient not only directing the team but finding his own shot as needed.

Cam Wright struggled with his shooting last night, but his defense as usual was painful for the opposition. Mike Young and Jamel Artis are continuing their improvement and making the power forward spot less of a concern. The only reason Artis played only 10 minutes, though, was because Johnson was doing so well that Dixon played Johnson at the spot for stretches.

It was such a blowout, that the walk-0ns got a minute of action in a conference game. But more enticing was seeing Joseph Uchebo on the court for the first time. Looks like he is not only cleared to play, but he is starting to feel ready to play. At this point it is mental. Trusting that the leg is healed. Trusting it can take the strain. If he is ready to make that transition, Pitt is going to have even more depth and size inside.

Other stuff.

The Maryland side felt a bit demoralized after being demolished.

He had tried to unearth positivity from this mess of a Monday night but reality was printed on the box score before him, so Coach Mark Turgeon started methodically folding the sheet of paper as if to hide the evidence. The Maryland men’s basketball team had just fallen to Pittsburgh, 79-59, a humbling reality check for everyone on the visitors’ bench, and though Turgeon later claimed he felt encouragement, even he eventually succumbed to frustration after the season’s worst defeat.

“Can’t sit there and just play like that,” Turgeon said.

It was billed as Maryland’s biggest test since point guard Seth Allen returned four games ago from a broken foot and Turgeon began insisting everyone start fresh. The Terrapins had flown north on a quick turnaround, less than 48 hours after beating Georgia Tech at home. They knew the opportunity that lay ahead, a chance to remain relevant and unbeaten in conference play. But in spectacularly demoralizing fashion they watched it zoom away.

These are the numbers Turgeon folded away during his postgame news conference: The starters shot 31.4 percent and among them only Evan Smotrycz scored more than five points. Sophomore forward Jake Layman committed four fouls and made one field goal. Against a Pittsburgh team known for its physicality, no Terps player snatched more than five rebounds and the Panthers outscored them by 14 points in the paint.

Maryland’s frustration at being weak on offense did not help their defensive effort. Or any effort.

Frustrated with his team’s lack of fight down the stretch, Turgeon called a timeout in the final minute, as a place known locally as “Oakland Zoo” for the neighborhood the school is located in and its rowdy, towel-waving, foot-stomping student section voiced its disapproval.

It might have been the first time Maryland stopped the Panthers in the second half.

Zing!

This is what is supposed to happen when you play Pitt in the Pete.

Pitt plays at Maryland in under three weeks. Expect the Terrapins to be looking for payback by then.