Ashton Gibbs, Pitt Roar Past Georgetown

Filed under: Georgetown, Pittsburgh, Big East

As the final seconds of another Big East loss ticked off, Georgetown's Chris Wright draped a dark blue towel over his head and glumly stared at his sneakers. It was that sort of night for the Hoyas.

Too little, too late, too much Pitt.

Ashton Gibbs scored 22 points for the Panthers (16-0, 4-0 in the Big East), who opened the game with a 26-11 knockout run and cruised to a 72-57 win over the slumping Hoyas (15-4, 1-4).

It was over before a defenseless Georgetown team knew what hit it.

The Hoyas managed a tie at 5-5 just over four minutes in, but a 17-4 run keyed by Gibbs pushed the Pitt lead into double digits, where it remained the remainder of the game. Gibbs drilled three consecutive 3-pointers during the decisive run and hit five for the night.

Wright, arguably the team's best player and certainly its bellwether, played just 10 minutes in the first half after picking up two fouls before the first television timeout. While Wright sat, Pitt outscored Georgetown 17-4.

The Panthers never looked back.

Pitt's celebrated backcourt of GIbbs and Brad Wanamaker found little resistance from the Hoyas in the first half, driving into the lane at will. Even defensive and rebounding specialist Nasir Robinson scored on a nifty drive through the paint.

Pitt took a 17-point lead into the locker room, more than enough of a cushion to roll to a fourth league win.

The Hoyas, however, didn't go away. After giving up 41 points in the first half, they gave up just 19 in the first 15 minutes of the second half and slowly crept closer. But if the second half was a different story, it was one the team didn't have enough time to tell.

A Jerrelle Benimon layup with 5:34 to play cut the lead to 11, but the Panthers answered with -- who else? -- Ashton Gibbs, who drilled a 3-pointer and blunted the Hoyas' last chance at a comeback..

Georgetown's Big Three again didn't deliver a big enough performance. Austin Freeman, Jason Clark and Wright scored just 31 points and hit 9-of-31 shots.

How It Was Won: Pitt's ability to break down Georgetown's defense. The Panthers didn't just pass the ball around the perimeter and wait for offensive rebounds, every player on the floor attacked the basket in the first half. The second half was purely academic.

How It Was Lost; Georgetown's first half defense was uncharacteristically poor, and Wright's absence offensively hurt. Even though Pitt didn't need any help dispatching the Hoyas, John Thompson III's team gave it to them anyway. Georgetown hit just 4-of-14 free throws in the first half.

Stat of the Game: Fourteen assists, three turnovers for Pitt. It was 10-2 in the opening half.

Stat of the Game II: Georgetown 5-of-22 from 3-point range. The Hoyas continue to live, and mostly die, by the long shot.

 

Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

Lisa Marie Keira Knightley Monica Keena Anne Marie Kortright Paige Butcher