Broncs ride into Steel City to take on 10th-ranked Panthers

Nov 13, 2011 - 3:50 PM Pittsburgh, PA (Sports Network) - The 10th-ranked Pittsburgh Panthers were dominant in Friday's season opener, and they hope to carry that momentum into today's non-conference clash with the Rider Broncs.

On Friday, Rider was crushed by Robert Morris in an 83-57 final to open the season on a sour note. The last three seasons have been rather epic in the annals of Broncs basketball, the team winning a total of 59 games which is the most-ever during such a three-year stretch. This squad is expected to carry on the recent winning tradition, but Rider lost two major contributors from a year ago. The Broncs are members of the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference and have been picked to finish in the top half of the league standings.

Under head coach Jamie Dixon, the Panthers made it to the NCAA Tournament once again last season, but the squad fell short of expectations by failing to win either the Big East Tournament title or a berth in the Sweet 16. Fortunately, there is a significant amount of talent back in place, enough for Dixon to challenge for the crown in college basketball's elite league.

The Panthers won their first-ever meeting with the Broncs by an 87-68 final last season.

Rider's Novar Gadson (13.7 ppg, 5.8 rpg) is back in place to lead this year's team, but he's coming off micro fracture knee surgery. As a result, no one knew what to expect of the forward in Friday's opener against Robert Morris. Gadson played just 17 minutes in that affair, as he fouled out after scoring a mere seven points. Daniel Stewart, who enters with big expectations, netted just five points, as the team relied heavily on the backcourt tandem of Jeff Jones and Anthony Myles to carry the load offensively. Myles poured in 20 points on the strength of a 7-of-8 effort from the foul line, and Jones notched 14 points. Unfortunately for Rider, it turned the ball over 25 times and shot a lowly 35.6 percent from the field.

Named the preseason Big East Player of the Year, Pittsburgh's Ashton Gibbs led the team in scoring (16.8 ppg) and shot an incredible 49 percent from behind the three-point line a year ago. He figured to get plenty of touches in Friday's opener, as did Nasir Robinson, who was responsible for 9.4 points and 4.9 rebounds per contest last season. In Friday's 33-point win over Albany, Pitt shot 54 percent from the field, including a 13-of-22 effort from three- point range. Gibbs was outstanding, scoring 21 points to go along with seven rebounds, but he was outshined by fellow guard Tray Woodall who netted 25 points on 9-of-13 shooting while handing out 10 assists. The Panthers earned a 35-23 rebounding advantage and finished with 24 assists against a mere seven turnovers.