Larger text
Smaller text
Print
E-mail
Pitt makes history
No matter.
Pitt created its own energy, not by rubbing sticks together, but by rubbing Kent State's face in a barrage of early baskets. The Panthers made 14 of their first 18 shots en route to the hottest night in school history.
By the time the smoke cleared, they'd made a school-record 67.4 percent of their field-goal attempts (31 of 46) in a 79-64 victory. That beat the old mark of 66.1 percent, set Feb. 10, 1990, against Providence.
Aaron Gray, who shot just 35 percent in the Big East tournament, made all six of his field-goal attempts and played like the dominant big man Pitt needs him to be. He is three inches taller than anyone on Kent State's roster, and he made sure everyone was aware of it. He scored 17 points, pulled down 13 rebounds and blocked five shots.
Sophomore guard Ronald Ramon also went 6 for 6, including 2 of 2 from 3-point range. Pitt is infinitely more threatening when Ramon shoots well. He was coming off a 0-for-4 performance in the Big East title game against Syracuse and was 0-for-everything in the postseason in 2005.
Last night, he poured in a team-best 10 points in the first half.
"The aggressiveness was there because it's the NCAA's," Ramon explained. "You want to go out and perform and not let your team down. At the same time, it was within the flow of the game."
Neither Ramon nor coach Jamie Dixon would agree with the theory that a shorter bench helped Ramon find a rhythm, but it makes sense. He played only 20 minutes in the Big East final but logged 15 in the first half last night, as Dixon went with a seven-man rotation. Keith Benjamin (ill) and Tyrell Biggs (calf strain) were out.
Any shooter will tell you that when he makes a few, he hates to come out. The only thing he hates worse is to get pulled after he misses a few.
Ramon admitted that the Syracuse game ate at him.
"As a shooter, you want to go out there and perform and not let your team down," he said. "I told my teammates, 'Just trust me.'"
It'd be easy to minimize Pitt's accomplishment by reciting Kent State's deficiencies, but the Panthers deserve credit for their unselfish, focused approach. Plenty of other highly seeded teams will be at home Sunday, watching Pitt play in the second round.
The Panthers had 18 assists on their 31 field goals, including a team-best nine from Carl Krauser, who resisted the always-present temptation to involve only person - himself.
Krauser played a terrific floor game in a team-high 36 minutes.
Off the bench, Levance Fields and Sam Young combined to shoot 9 for 13. Young made the play of the night, stealing a ball near midcourt and flying in for a windmill dunk that made it 32-14 with 7:40 left in the first half. The lead would swell to 25 early in the second, and Kent State would not seriously threaten.
Though they didn't have long to savor their victory, Pitt deserved a few minutes, anyway. Ramon was asked if he'd ever had a perfect shooting night before.
"Ahhh, I don't know; I can't remember," he said. "But I'll remember this one."
