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Pitt routs DePaul

Jan 23, 2011 - 1:29 AM Rosemont, IL (Sports Network) - Gilbert Brown scored 17 points and Ashton Gibbs added 13 as fifth-ranked Pittsburgh defeated DePaul 80-50, at Allstate Arena.

Brad Wanamaker supplied nine points and nine assists, while Gary McGhee scored only five points but pulled down a game-high 15 rebounds for the Panthers (19-1, 7-0 Big East), who have won their first seven games in Big East play for the first time in school history.

Gibbs, a junior, crossed the 1,000 career points mark for Pitt, which has won 10 consecutive league games to match the second-longest streak in program history.

Cleveland Melvin scored 11 points and Tony Freeland added eight off the bench for the Blue Demons (6-13, 0-7), who shot a paltry 34.5 percent in losing their 19th straight regular-season conference game.

Jeremiah Kelly and Mike Stovall hit triples and Stovall added a layup to finish an 8-1 burst that pulled DePaul within 42-35 with 13:41 to play.

Pitt then countered with a 10-3 run to extend the lead back to 14 with just under 10 minutes remaining.

The Panthers continued to pull away, eventually finishing off a 19-5 surge to extend the lead to 61-40 less than three minutes later.

DePaul never got closer than 18 the rest of the way as Pitt wrapped up its fourth straight road win and 16th victory in its last 22 games away from home.

"We battled to stay within striking distance," DePaul head coach Oliver Purnell said. "But then we took bad shots, committed turnovers and missed defensive assignments. Pittsburgh is a great team, so deep and so physical."

Trailing by two, Pitt produced 11 of the next 13 points to forge a 23-16 lead with 7 1/2 minutes remaining before the break.

Pitt put together a 9-2 spurt over the final three minutes of the first half to take a 38-23 advantage at the intermission.

Game Notes

Pitt also won 10 straight Big East games from February 18, 2003 through January 17, 2004...The Panthers lead the all-time series, 7-1...Gibbs now has 1,002 career points. He made 3-of-5 from beyond the arc as the Panthers hit 7- of-13 from long distance...Nasir Robinson chipped in with eight points and eight boards in the win...The 50 points scored by DePaul was a season- low...The Blue Demons made 19-of-55 shots...Melvin blocked three shots and has recorded a swat in 16 games...DePaul went 4-of-14 from three-point range and has made a trifecta in 536 straight games.