Panther of the Week: Jamel Artis

Jamel Artis is making his case for more playing time for the Pitt Panthers and this site has taken notice. In a down week for the Panthers, he was a bright spot. That is why we have selected the freshman as this week's Panther of the Week.

In a week that most Pitt fans would like to forget, Artis made the most of his small minutes and could be pushing for more down the stretch for Jamie Dixon. Artis only played 12 minutes in a loss to Duke earlier in the week, but everyone knew he was on the court thanks to some clutch three point shooting. He finished with eight points, two rebounds, and a block, also going 2-3 from beyond the arc.

Artis followed that up by helping out with Lamar Patterson having an off performance (and in foul trouble) yesterday. The Baltimore native came up big when the Panthers were struggling. He finished with 11 points and was a beast on the glass with seven rebounds and even came up with one assist. Pitt was being dominated badly on the boards early in the game and Talib Zanna played through an injury and as mentioned Patterson was not having his best game. Dixon turned to Artis to help out and appears to have found another option off the bench for Pitt down the stretch.

As mentioned earlier, this was not a week to remember for Pitt fans. It isn't often that the Panthers lose two home games in a row, no matter who the opponent is that week. It happened, but if we can look at a young bright spot, it would be Artis.

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