Pitt pulls away for 64-44 win over South Florida

Are you as bored from that game as I was?

I apologize in advance for what is going to be a pretty boring recap. Pitt started off slow, but ended up with a 64-44 win against South Florida. Even an improvement in play over the second half didn't really make the game that enjoyable to watch.

There's really not too much to say here. Even as Pitt struggled terribly early on (they shot about 25% in the first half), you didn't really feel like they were too much in danger of losing. Despite the woeful offense, Pitt somehow led by one at halftime.

The thought was that if the Panthers came out with even any kind of offense in the second half, they'd pull away. And that's what happened. Pitt made seven of their first ten shots in the second half, shot over 50%, and won comfortably as you would expect.

Shooting, thankfully, is only part of the game, though. Where Pitt really cleaned up was on the boards where they nearly doubled South Florida up, 41-21 unofficially.

Let's be honest - there's absolutely nothing to take away from this game. Pitt should have won this game by more than ten points and they did. Several guys played reasonably well, but Dante Taylor gets the game ball. He had 12 points and ten rebounds and while you might think a good portion of that came in garbage time, that's simply not true. Taylor played early on when Steven Adams was whistled for a quick foul and missed some early shots and really contributed.

Other than that, it was your typical Pitt game. Steven Adams blocked shots (five), James Robinson missed them (0-3), and the Panthers played great defense. One guy who deserves some credit after getting killed recently was Talib Zanna. Zanna had seven points and seven rebounds and had his best day in several games. He was only 2-5 from the field, but good to see him contribute more on the boards.

Boring, boring game for the most part. But the best part is that it's far better to win these than lose them. The Panthers really need three straight wins here to close things out and they grabbed the first tonight.

Next up is Villanova this Sunday.

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