Gibbs' 23 lead Pittsburgh past DePaul 65-52
PITTSBURGH -- Pitt is back to being one of the nation's best defensive teams. DePaul is one of the worst offensive teams.
Not surprisingly, it was a bad matchup for the Blue Demons, who couldn't find a way to score consistently until it was too late.
Ashton Gibbs scored 23 points and Pittsburgh bolted to a 13-point lead in the opening 6½ minutes to take control, and the Panthers held off a late rally to defeat DePaul 65-52 on Monday night in the Big East opener for both teams.
Gibbs scored three baskets to help Pitt (11-2) surge to a 15-2 lead and the Panthers led by as many as 16 points at 30-14. DePaul (7-6), coming off a 64-61 loss to Florida Gulf Coast, was held to nine points in the opening 10 minutes.
The Blue Demons made several runs, pulling within 32-25 with 2:31 left in the first half and 54-49 on Walker's 3 with 5:35 to play, but Pitt answered each time in improving to 5-0 against DePaul in Big East play.
Pitt finished the game with an 11-3 run after DePaul pulled within five points, with Gibbs and Gilbert Brown each making two free throws. Gibbs also added a 3 and Jermaine Dixon hit a driving layup and a jumper from the left wing during the run.
"We started out good before we came down a little bit, but we step it up defensively when that happens," said Gibbs, who added seven rebounds and four assists.
What bothered DePaul coach Jerry Wainwright was seeing Gibbs open so often.
"He takes advantage of every opening," Wainwright said. "Any time we left him, he made us pay. He seemed to make every big shot."
Dixon, the only returning starter from Pitt's 31-5 team of last season that reached an NCAA regional final, added 12 points.
Will Walker and Mac Koshwal scored 11 points each and Mario Stula had 10 as cold-shooting DePaul lost its fifth in seven games. DePaul shot 34.5 percent (20 of 58) one game after Pitt limited Ohio to 23.9 percent shooting during a 74-49 victory.
With leading scorer Walker slowed by flu-like symptoms that kept him from starting -- he averages 16.5 points, but had only two in the first half -- the Blue Demons searched unsuccessfully the entire game for a reliable scorer. Walker hasn't practiced since before Christmas.
Pitt began the game ranked fourth nationally in scoring defense (56.3 points); DePaul was No. 308 in scoring among the 347 major college teams with a 61.3 average.
"We had makeable shots," Wainwright said. "I think our kids hung in there, but we couldn't answer their offense with a made shot."
Pitt played its second game with a full roster after being without Brown, its most experienced inside player, for 11 games due to academic problems and Dixon for eight games with a broken foot. At least for now, there's no problem with Pitt's defense, even if coach Jamie Dixon wants to see more consistency.
"We defended it well -- for a while," he said. "Offensively we were good at times, but we didn't sustain that. We are making people miss shots, and we can become a good defensive team, but there's improvement to be made and we made that clear."
Pitt won its 30th consecutive home game, second nationally to Kansas' 49-game winning streak.
Jamie Dixon won his 174th game in seven seasons, tying him with Bob Timmons (1953-68) for the second most coaching victories at the school. H.C. "Doc" Carlson holds the school record with 367 victories from 1922-53.