Young, second-half surge lead Pitt past Providence
PITTSBURGH (AP) – Sam Young scored 22 points and No. 22 Pittsburgh limited Providence to six points in the opening 11 minutes of the second half, allowing the Panthers to pull away for an 82-63 victory Tuesday night. Ronald Ramon, coming off a game-winning 3-pointer at the buzzer against West Virginia, hit five 3-pointers while scoring 15 points and physical freshman DeJuan Blair proved a difficult matchup inside for Providence with 15 points and seven rebounds.
Pitt (19-5, 7-4 Big East) alternated wins and losses over its previous seven games before putting away the slumping Friars (13-11, 4-8), who lost their sixth in seven games and are winless in their last eight against the Panthers. The Friars haven’t beaten Pitt since January 2001 and haven’t won in Pittsburgh since December 1998.
Providence, 1-7 on the road, stayed close for a half, leading 28-27 late in the first half after Jeff Xavier hit three 3-pointers in the opening four minutes. The Friars trailed by only three, 42-39, in the opening minute of the first half.
But the Friars, despite getting 15 points from Marshon Brooks and 14 from Xavier, suddenly lost their offense as Pitt went on runs of 8-0 and 13-0 over the next nine-plus minutes to seize a 63-41 lead.
Keith Benjamin added 10 points for Pitt, which took advantage of frequent Friars defensive lapses for its highest-scoring game since beating Seton Hall 84-70 on Jan. 12. Pitt was held to 69 points or fewer in six of its first 10 conference games. Providence has allowed an average of 75 points over its last seven games.
Young was limited to six shots while being held to 10 points in the 55-54 win Thursday against West Virginia, or eight points below his average, but was clearly looking to shoot more and missed only four of 14 shots. Young scored 22 or more points in four of six Pitt games from Jan. 9-23, but had averaged only 12.5 points over his previous four.
Providence, in danger of missing the Big East tournament for the second time in three seasons if it can’t start winning on the road, also got 10 points from Randall Hanke.
Pitt point guard Levance Fields, out since Dec. 30 with a broken foot, resumed practicing this week but did not dress for the game. Previously, he targeted Friday’s game at Marquette as the likely date for his return.
Copyright Associated Press 2008