Pitt Panther Prowl

As Predicted, but not as Expected

As I predicted, Pitt got their vengeance on Villanova. They did so with a solid, but not spectacular job by Ronald Ramon, who finished with 10 points (.400 from the field, 4-4 free throws), but had a modest 2/3 assist/turnover ratio. While Ramon didn’t light it up, he did hit a key 3-pointer early in a 21-3 run that put the game away late in the second half. In Ramon’s defense, I don’t think he expected the repeated colonoscopies he received from Nova’s Scottie Reynolds, who apparently is the one player in the Big East who is allowed to foul anyone anytime without getting called for it.

Despite predicting this outcome, it didn’t exactly play out as I had anticipated. I had a hard time figuring out what was happening in the first half. Before we were five minutes into the game, Jamie Dixon had already done one of his famous momentum ending full bench subs, sending in Tyrell Biggs, Brad Wanamaker, and (gasp) Gary McGhee. Not only were they on the floor early, though. They were on the floor often in the first half. McGhee logged 6 minutes and Wannamaker 10, almost entirely in the first half. Biggs played 26 minutes, seeing even time in both halves. Amazingly, there wasn’t the usual drop-off we see when Dixon makes these kind of mass substitutions. Gary McGhee even scored a basket, coming close to ending the game with more points than fouls committed. And Biggs finished with 14 points, shooting less while being far more effective than usual.

What I couldn’t figure out is why Dixon gave Wanamaker and McGhee, neither of whom have really provided many positive minutes this season, as much playing time in the first half as he did. My only assumption is that it was an attempt to show DeJuan Blair and Sam Young in particular, and the whole team in general, that if they aren’t going to play hard, then minutes will be given to people who will. Given the fact that Villanova apparently watched film of Sam Young from the Rutgers game for shooting tips, Dixon was able to leave McGhee and Wanamaker on the court longer than he might otherwise have because Nova just wasn’t making shots.

While it was overly surprising to see McGhee and Wanamaker play as much as they did in the first half of a sloppy and still contested game, the second half was anything but a surprise. In the second half, Dixon went back to a primarily 6 man rotation, using Ramon, Young, Blair, Biggs, Keith Benjamin, and Gilbert Brown. Ultimately, that proved to be the rotation of guys that made the difference. With about 13 minutes to go in the game, after Nova had closed the gap and taken a 1 point lead, Young and Biggs took control scoring 10 points each, combining for 20 of the last 32 Panther points. Pitt also out rebounded Nova 36-28 and made critical free throws late in the game, keeping the Wildcats from being able to claw their way back late.

All that said, though, If I were to paint a picture of what truly made the difference in this game versus their loss to Rutgers, it would look like this:

This is what won the game for Pitt: grit and determintation.