Pitt Panthers Men’s Basketball Cruises Past ACC Rival Wake Forest At The Pete
By Brett Tunno
Jan 11, 2014; Pittsburgh, PA, USA; Pittsburgh Panthers forward Lamar Patterson (21) drives to the basket as Wake Forest Demon Deacons forward Travis McKie (30) defends during the first half at the Petersen Events Center. Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports
The Pitt men’s basketball team welcomed Wake Forest to the Petersen Events Center on Saturday for the first-ever meeting between the two schools.
The Demon Deacons might not want to come back anytime soon.
Pitt continued to make noise across the ACC, blowing out Wake Forest 80-65 to improve to 3-0 in its new conference.
Jamie Dixon’s Panthers (15-1) continued to play a physical, unselfish style of basketball, as nine of 12 players contributed to the scoring. Pitt was led by senior guard Lamar Patterson, who finished with a game-high 27 points (three shy of his career high), six assists, five rebounds, one steal and one block.
Senior Pitt center Talib Zanna finished with a double-double, tallying 16 points, 12 rebounds and four blocks. Redshirt sophomore guard Durand Johnson came off the bench and added 11 points.
For Wake Forest (11-5, 1-2 ACC), sophomore forward Devin Thomas finished with 17 points on 8 of 11 shooting and nine rebounds, while senior guard (and Robert Morris transfer) Coron Williams added 10 points.
Pitt opened the game with an 8-1 run and never trailed. Patterson led all first-half scorers with 13 points on 5 of 9 shooting. Johnson came off the bench, making 6 of 7 free throws and chipping in with 9 points. Zanna had six points and an impressive 10 rebounds before intermission.
For Wake Forest, Thomas contributed nine points by the half, keeping the Demon Deacons in the game. Pitt went into the break up 40-26, as the Panthers shot 50 percent from the field compared to Wake Forest’s 26 percent, and outrebounded the Demon Deacons 24-15.
Led by hot shooting from Patterson, the Panthers methodically tore apart Wake Forest in the second half, en route to an easy victory. Pitt’s largest lead was 20 points.
Pitt will travel to Georgia Tech on Tuesday night. Wake Forest hosts NC State on Wednesday night.