Tennessee is making it look easy against the best of the Big East. Scotty Hopson is making it look spectacular.Hopson scored 27 points, many of the flashy variety, as the 11th-ranked Volunteers (7-0) dropped No. 3 Pitt (10-1) from the ranks of the unbeaten with a 83-76 win at the Consol Energy Center in Pittsburgh.
The Panthers became the second top Big East team to fall to the Volunteers, who beat Villanova 78-68 to win the Preseason NIT Tipoff in November.
Fifty-six fouls were called in a physical contest that seemed fitting for an NHL arena used to heavy hits and hip checks by the Penguins.
It wasn't nearly as close as the final score indicated.
Pitt jumped out to a 2-0 lead but was never ahead of the Volunteers again. Tennessee led by 13 at the half; its lead swelled to 21 midway through the first half.
Whenever Pitt did manage a run, like a second-half push that cut the lead to nine, Hopson had an answer. The Tennessee guard hit 10-of-13 shots despite pressure from the Pitt defense. Tennessee as a team hit 56.3 percent of its shots against the Panthers' typically stingy defense.
Nothing seemed to go right for Pitt. The team's transition game, which has played a much bigger role on this team, whose stars are in the backcourt, didn't materialize. The Panthers didn't score a fastbreak point for more than 23 minutes.
Brad Wanamaker matched Hopson for Pitt, scoring 21 points to go with nine assists, but had no help in the frontcourt. Backcourt mates Ashton Gibbs and Travon Woodall added 15 and 11.
Melvin Goins added 18 for the Vols and anchored a Tennessee defense that held Pitt to 40.7 percent shooting.
Tennessee is now 7-0 for the first time under Bruce Pearl.
It was Pitt's first non-conference loss in Pittsburgh since Jan. 2, 2005.
Five Thoughts
Hello, Scotty Hopson: This wasn't the sort of game Hopson would've taken over a season ago, but the bigger, stronger, 2011 version is playing with more grit than all of the Tennessee River riverbed. That performance is what you call swagger, folks.
Pitt Got Out-Toughed. In its own house, or at least in its own neighborhood. Hopson beat up the Pitt perimeter, the Volunteers outrebounded the Panthers, blocked seven shots and generally choked the life out of the nation's third-ranked team. Gary McGhee got the most shots of Pitt's true post players, four, and missed all of them.
Tennessee Has to Take Better Care of the Ball: Lost in the big win was that the Volunteers committed 20 turnovers, many late as Pitt turned a rout into a mere seven-point loss.
Pitt's Transition Game Was Non-Existent: The Panthers are supposed to be a more up-tempo team this year, but its transition defense ranged between poor and non-existent. Pitt struggled to get out on the break.
Bruce Pearl Rallies His Team: Give it to the troubled Tennessee coach, he can certainly keep his team focused. In the past year alone, he's had players arrested, suspended, kicked off the team and is now facing suspension and reprimand after committing NCAA recruiting violations and lying to the NCAA about it. But the Volunteers came ready to play like there's nothing else to life than basketball.
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