Panther of the Week: Jamel Artis

Pitt had a strong upset win over Virginia and then a first half letdown against Syracuse to go 1-1 this past week in the ACC. Through both, it seemed that senior Jamel Artis stayed consistent on the floor and therefore, takes home the Panther of the Week award. Michael Young, Sheldon Jeter, and Cam Johnson also put up some nice numbers, but none better than Artis.

In Pitt’s thrilling OT victory over UVA, Artis led all Pitt scorers with 24 points. He struggled from the free throw line, but nailed 6 of 7 shots from three point land. He chipped in seven rebounds, four assists, and one block. His hot three-point shooting included a dagger three to extend Pitt’s overtime lead to nine.

The Baltimore, MD native followed that up with another solid performance, in a game that most Panther fans would like to forget. While most of the Pitt players took the first half off Saturday, Artis poured in 23 points for the game along with five rebounds and 1 assist. He help Pitt claw back into the contest throughout the second half as well to make the score respectable. The 11 point loss locked a ton better than it actually was for the Panthers.

I think we’ve made it very clear, on this site, that Pitt needs more than Artis and Young to step up and become a real threat. So far this season, it hasn’t happened like they need it too. The week that you see someone other than Artis or Young in this space for Panther of the Week is either going to be a very good or very bad week for Pitt. Let’s hope for the first option there.

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