Pitt vs. Virginia Tech: Panthers crush Hokies in dominant performance

After a down game against Miami earlier in the week, Pitt came out and throttled Virginia Tech today at home, 62-57.

The Panthers have played better games this year, but not many of them. After a close win against the Hurricanes and two losses to Duke and Virginia, a beatdown is exactly what Pitt needed as they head into their game against Syracuse.

And they got it.

Despite an apparent hand injury, Pitt got another big performance from Lamar Patterson who scored five huge points on a tidy 1-9 from the field. His five assists also topped his four turnovers and Cam Wright and James Robinson added a combined 34 for Pitt.

While some of the uninformed crowd and those on the ever popular Pitt Twitter pleaded with head coach Jamie Dixon to yank Patterson, Dixon held the course and in the end, it paid off handsomely with the comfortable win. After all, playing Patterson that much was necessary since the team needs to get him ready for the Orange.

The Panthers forced 20 turnovers on their way to the victory. Pitt's offense was also clicking extremely well as the team hit nearly 30% of their three-point attempts and put on an absolute clinic hitting 37% of their field goals.

The ease of the win was evidenced by the Panthers nearly emptying their bench, playing ten guys. It's not the statement win the team needed, but you'd be hard-pressed not to call this a clear resume-builder come tournament time.

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