Villanova Pulls Away Late

Pitt dropped its second game of the year, losing 67-57 at the Spectrum. I remember going there as a kid for a few of 76ers games, seeing Bird/McHale/Parish there once when Barkley was still a 76er then on two other occasions to see Shaq and the Magic and also Zo/Larry Johnson and the Hornets.

After Pitt went ahead by five at halftime, they looked like they should win. But turnovers (17) and foul trouble for Blair spelled doom. Three-point shooting was another factor as the team shot only 3-16 and Pitt won the rebound margin, but only by four.

I don't know - in the beginning of the year, I picked Pitt to lose either the WVU or Nova road game. But it's always hard to see them lose. Blair had a modest 7 points/8 rebounds and while Young led the Panthers with 14, he only shot 6-15.

This really might be the best blueprint to beat Pitt - make Young take tough shots and get Blair into foul trouble. Fields is great, but most nights, he isn't going to be able to pick up the scoring slack that much.

A bright spot was a strong game from local kid Brad Wanamaker. He came right in and asserted himself, shooting 6-7 and scoring 13 points in only 22 minutes.