DePaul no match for Blair, Pitt

PITTSBURGH - DeJuan Blair became tangled with DePaul's Matija Poscic as the two went for a rebound early in the game, but only for a moment. Once he realized Blair was pulling him as well as the ball, Poscic quickly yanked his arm away.

One could almost read Poscic's mind: Uhh, uhh, not happening to me.

Blair outmuscled DePaul inside for 20 points and 18 rebounds while setting No. 4 Pittsburgh's two-game record for rebounds, and the Panthers pulled away early in the second half for an 80-61 victory Saturday night.

Blair, averaging 20 points during Pitt's seven-game winning streak, followed up his 22-point, 23-rebound effort in a 76-68 win at No. 1 Connecticut on Monday with a similar can't-stop-me show, gathering 13 rebounds in the first 13 minutes and 16 by halftime.

In the UConn game, Blair signaled early on that he didn't care if he was on the Huskies' home court, in front of their fans, he planned to take charge. He did that by effectively tossing 7-foot-3 Hasheem Thabeet over his shoulder during a rebound - and, intimidated or not, Thabeet ended with only 5 points and 4 rebounds.

No wonder Poscic wasn't about to experience a Thabeet-like takedown.

"I started laughing, man, because he got his arm out quick," Blair said.

The 6-foot-7 Blair was limited to 2 rebounds in the second half, mostly because the Panthers (25-2, 12-2 Big East) didn't miss as many shots - 10 of his 18 rebounds were on the offensive end. He played only nine minutes in the second half, and 23 overall, after outrebounding DePaul 16-10 in the first half by himself.

"He has a Charles Barkley kind of body and a great feel for playing," DePaul coach Jerry Wainwright said.

Dar Tucker scored 18 and Will Walker had 17 for DePaul, which has only four players averaging more than 4 points.

DePaul (8-19, 0-14) had no answer for Blair in losing a school-record 14th in a row, getting outrebounded 49-25. The Blue Demons had lost 13 in a row three times previously.