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Pittsburgh continues to roll through early opponents

Nov 28, 2007 - 3:41 AM By Chris Adamski PA SportsTicker Contributing Writer

PITTSBURGH (Ticker) -- Pittsburgh is still in search of a challenge.

Ronald Ramon scored 15 points to lead four players in double figures as the No. 11 Panthers easily dispatched of another opponent with Tuesday's 80-53 victory over Boston University.

Pittsburgh (6-0) has won its first six games by an average margin of 31 points, capturing each by at least 11 points and all but one by at least 27.

"The competition hasn't been the best, but it's not easy to just continue to keep winning by the margins we've been winning by," point guard Levance Fields said. "We have to sustain it over two halves, over 40 minutes, and have got to play together as a team.

"But that's what we've been doing. Unfortunately, we've been that much better than the teams we've been playing, and we've been showing it."

Ramon went 5-for-5 on 3-pointers en route to a season high in scoring, Sam Young had 14 points and Fields chipped in 11 and eight assists as the Big East squad started 6-0 for the sixth consecutive season.

Ramon, who led the Panthers in 3-pointers last season, entered the contest shooting only 34 percent from the floor and 29 percent from 3-point range as he has been battling an ankle injury through the early part of the campaign.

"This feels good," Ramon said. "My teammates had confidence in me. They knew that I would put the time in to get my shot back. They told me to keep shooting, and today was the day."

Mike Cook also had 11 points for the Panthers, who won their 25th consecutive home game against a non-conference opponent.

Carlos Strong had 23 points to lead all scorers for the Terriers (1-5), who have lost five in a row.

Although it was the preseason pick to win the American East Conference, Boston University is without its top two scorers from last season, sophomore guards Corey Lowe and Tyler Morris.

"I think this was a fortunate time to catch this team," Pittsburgh coach Jamie Dixon said. "It's an undermanned team right now, but one that was picked to win their conference, is well-coached and is a very good program.

"We did catch them at right time. I wouldn't be surprised to see them in the NCAA Tournament, so this win could look good in March, April when they get everyone back."

Although Pittsburgh missed two of its first nine shots, it jumped out to a 19-4 lead and never looked back. The Panthers hit 13 of their final 17 shots in the first half, building up a 42-19 cushion at the half.

Pittsburgh shot 50.9 percent (28-for-55) from the field for the contest and limited Boston University to 31.5 percent (17-for-54). In addition to the run to start the game, the Panthers enjoyed stretches of 18-4 late in the opening half and 13-0 to open to the second half.

The Terriers made only seven field goals over the first 24 minutes of the contest. The only sign of life they showed was a 17-4 run midway through the second half.

"Not that they weren't trying to win the game, but I actually had the thought that they were somewhat taking it easy on us," Boston University coach Dennis Wolff said. "We're kind of friends with those guys, and I appreciate that."

The Panthers improved to 6-0 all-time against America East teams as they were facing Boston University for the first time.

"I thought we did a very god job in some areas," Dixon said. "We did some good things, and we've got to continue to improve. That's what we're trying to do. We did some things we wanted to do, but we could do some things a little better."