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Pittsburgh dominates VMI

Dec 7, 2011 - 4:47 AM Pittsburgh, PA (Sports Network) - Ashton Gibbs netted 20 points behind six three-pointers and pulled down six rebounds as No. 15 Pittsburgh throttled Virginia Military Institute, 97-70.

Nasir Robinson dropped 19 points on 8-of-9 nine from the floor and grabbed 14 rebounds to go with five assists for the Panthers (8-1), who have won six straight since losing to Long Beach State on November 16.

J.J. Moore added 16 points and five rebounds off the bench for the victors, and John Johnson added 13 points and five assists.

"It was a good win for us," Pitt head coach Jamie Dixon said. "I thought we did some things really well. Obviously, the rebounding stands out, we had 60 (rebounds)."

Jordan Weethee paced the Keydets (3-5) with 18 points off the bench. Stan Okoye netted 14 points and grabbed five boards and Keith Gabriel added 12 points, five rebounds and a pair of steals. VMI has lost four straight.

Pitt scored the first six points of the game before a layup by Ron Burks got VMI on the board for the first time.

A jumper by D.J. Covington made it a two-point game, but Pitt responded by netting the next eight points to take a 14-4 lead with less than 14 minutes to play in the first half.

Pitt then used an 18-7 run over the next four-plus minutes of game time to take a comfortable 32-11 lead, before a dunk by Okoye put an end to the run to make it 32-13 with just under nine minutes to go in the opening half.

A dunk by Robinson gave the Panthers a 23-point lead, 48-25 with 4 1/2 minutes to play in the first half.

Pitt closed out the first half holding a comfortable 57-33 advantage

VMI opened the second half with a 13-4 run to make it 61-46 with just under four minutes gone.

But Pittsburgh quickly built the lead back to 20, 75-55, by outscoring the Keydets, 14-9 over the next four-plus minutes of action.

Cameron Wright sank a jumper to give the Panthers their largest lead of the game at 31, 97-66, with 1 1/2 minutes to go as they finished off the easy win.

"I think Pittsburgh is as advertised," VMI head coach Duggar Baucom said. " When I think about Pitt, I think of toughness. I thought they certainly showed that tonight. I think we played pretty well. But they have a really nice team and Jamie does a great job with them. They seem like they really play together and like playing together."

Game Notes

Tuesday marked the first-ever meeting between the teams...Pitt owns an 89-2 record against non-conference opponents at the Petersen Events Center...Pitt shot 48 percent from the floor, while VMI shot only 37 percent...Pitt dominated VMI on the glass, outrebounding the Keydets, 60-31...The Panthers ended with 28 second-chance points, to only eight for the Keydets.