Pittsburgh Plays Up to Its First No. 1 Ranking

Associated Press
Monday, January 12, 2009

Just before the opening tip, Pittsburgh center DeJuan Blair jumped and performed a two-handed pullup on the rim.

The Panthers seem to like lofty views.

Blair scored 23 points with 18 rebounds and Jermaine Dixon added 17 points as host Pittsburgh, playing for the first time as the nation's top-ranked team, ran away from St. John's in the second half for a 90-67 win yesterday.

Leading by just five points at halftime, Pitt (15-0, 3-0 Big East) clamped down on defense and found its shooting range, knocking down three three-pointers in a 17-4 spurt in the first seven minutes of the second half. By the time Blair came out for a rest with 8 minutes 47 seconds left, the Panthers were up by 23 and putting on a show.

Game No. 1 as No. 1 went just fine.

"I thought we handled it well," Coach Jamie Dixon said. "But we weren't as good as we could have been."

Levance Fields had 13 points and nine assists for the Panthers, who forced 24 turnovers, shot 58 percent after halftime, and after shaking off some early rustiness from an eight-day layoff, looked worthy of their newfound status.

"It's history, us being number one for the first time," said Fields, Pitt's senior guard and floor leader. "But that's really all that it is. Just a little more scrutiny."

After a 60-year wait, and nearly more than a month since their last home game, the Panthers took the court at Petersen Events Center sitting atop the Associated Press poll. They intend to stay there as long as possible, but that will be easier said than done as a Big East minefield lies ahead.

The conference had nine teams ranked in the top 25 last week, and after hosting unranked South Florida on Wednesday, Pitt will face Louisville, Syracuse, West Virginia, Villanova and Notre Dame -- all currently in the poll -- in succession before the month ends. Two more matchups with Connecticut will follow.

D.J. Kennedy, who won a Pennsylvania state high school title as Blair's teammate, scored 18 for the Red Storm (10-5, 1-2), which didn't have enough to withstand Pitt's second-half blitz.

"That's the Big East," St. John's Coach Norm Roberts said. "You forget it and get ready to play the number five team in America (Connecticut) next. That's our conference."

The Panthers, who ascended to the top of the rankings last Monday, were sloppy with the ball in the first half. They committed nine turnovers, missed eight free throws and looked tight. Pitt only led 41-36 at the break, and when Sean Evans hit a layup, St. John's was within 43-40 and an upset seemed brewing.

That's when Pitt went to work.

Dixon made a three-pointer, Blair muscled inside for a rebound and putback and Fields and Sam Young hit consecutive three-pointers as Pitt built a 56-42 lead.

· PURDUE 62, WISCONSIN 52: Robbie Hummel's back appears to be fine.

The sophomore forward missed the Boilermakers' previous game, a loss to Penn State, with back spasms. He returned to score 11 of his 16 points in the second half as No. 14 Purdue beat the Badgers in West Lafayette, Ind., for its first Big Ten win.

Hummel, the league's preseason player of the year, made four of eight three-pointers and had five rebounds in 28 minutes.

"The first half, I was a little iffy," he said. "The second half, I got more confident."

Hummel hit his lower back hard on the floor in the first half, but he said it wasn't a problem.

"The adrenaline kicked in," he said. "To be honest, I feel really good. I didn't feel any pain."

Purdue defensive stopper Chris Kramer, who missed the Penn State game with a sprained left foot, played 21 minutes. Kramer and Hummel both got their first action about five minutes into the game.

Purdue, the conference favorite, looked shaky in losses to Illinois and Penn State and was in danger of falling to 0-3 in the league.

JaJuan Johnson had 20 points and 10 rebounds to lead the Boilermakers (12-4, 1-2 Big Ten). He scored Purdue's first six points.

Joe Krabbenhoft had 13 points and seven rebounds for Wisconsin (12-4, 3-1), which had won three straight. Marcus Landry, the Badgers' leading scorer, finished with nine points on 3-for-15 shooting.

· XAVIER 86, FORDHAM 60: B.J. Raymond scored 18 points to lead six Musketeers in double figures. It was the fourth straight victory for No. 16 Xavier (13-2, 2-0 Atlantic 10), which shot a season-best 53.8 percent from the field (28 for 52) and finished with a 45-29 rebound advantage to beat the Rams in New York.

Derrick Brown had 14 points, Jason Love 13, Terrell Holloway and Brad Redford had 11 each and C.J. Anderson added 10 for the Musketeers, who have beaten Fordham five straight times.

Alberto Estwick had 20 points for the Rams (2-12, 0-2), who have lost five straight games.

· MINNESOTA 79, PENN STATE 59: Reserve Devron Bostick scored 19 points to lead the No. 22 Gophers, who made all nine of their three-point attempts in a win over the Nittany Lions in Minneapolis.

Fellow junior college transfer Paul Carter added 14 for Minnesota (15-1, 3-1 Big Ten), which shot 62.5 percent.

Talor Battle had 19 points and nine assists for Penn State (13-4, 2-2). But the Big Ten's leading scorer didn't get on the board until 15 minutes had passed. Teammate Stanley Pringle, who averaged 19.3 points in his first three conference games, was held to seven points on 2-for-8 shooting.