University of Pittsburgh Athletics
Pitt
Rutgers
Streak Stretches to Ten Wins
1/8/2002 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Jan 8, 2002
PISCATAWAY, N.J. (AP) - Pittsburgh celebrated its first appearance in four years as a nationally ranked team with the kind of win top-25 teams have to get.
The No. 23 Panthers blew a big lead on the road but had enough savvy to not let it destroy them.
"This team right now, it's not pretty, but we're finding a way to win," guard Brandin Knight after Pittsburgh survived a Rutgers run to take a 66-58 victory Tuesday night. "Last year we would play a team tough for 30 minutes but would never finish the game. Now we're finishing games better and we're winning."
Jaron Brown scored 14 points and sparked a decisive run after Pittsburgh lost a 15-point lead in the Panthers' (15-1) first game as a ranked team since Dec. 28, 1998.
Pitt's 10-game winning streak is its longest since winning 22 straight in 1973-74, the last season the Panthers started 15-1.
Pitt is 3-0 in the Big East for the first time since the 1991-92 season. Rutgers (10-5, 1-2) lost its first home decision in nine games this season.
Leading by seven at halftime, Pitt opened its biggest lead at 43-28 with 14 minutes left to play. Rutgers, which rallied from an 18-point deficit to beat Georgetown on Saturday, scored 18 straight to take a 46-43 lead with 8:19 remaining. Rutgers shot 8-for-10 during the run.
Brown countered with a 3-point play and a driving layup to regain the lead and start Pitt on a 10-0 run. Chad Johnson hit a foul shot, Ontario Lett got a put-back and Brandin Knight scored on a driving layup to make it 53-46 with 4:42 remaining.
"They fought back hard, but we kept our composure," said Knight, wearing a patch over his left eye after sustaining a scratched cornea in the first half. "Jaron got a big rebound and put-back to get us started, and we just picked it up from there.
"I told the guys when we came out for the second half this team wasn't going to quit. But we're a year older and we're more mature this year, so we were able to handle things."
Rutgers coach Gary Waters said he has seen games like this before.
"That's how games go, they go in runs," he said. "They never go one basket after another. We were never really in offensive sync."
Rutgers shot 4-for-16 from the field, 3-for-8 from the foul line and committed four turnovers after taking the lead.
Knight, who shot just 4-for-15 from the foul line, had 13 points while Lett had 11 points and eight rebounds.
Rutgers, which shot just 36 percent, got 16 points from Jerome Coleman and 11 from Juel Wiggan.
Pitt, ranked No. 1 in the nation in defense, allowed less than 60 points in a game for the 11th time this season.
"That's our main staple," Pitt coach Ben Howland said. "Jaron Brown and Julius Page are unbelievable defenders on the ball. We take pride in playing good defense. That's the key to being successful."
Knight said Pitt is no pressing defensive tea.
"We just play solid man-to-man," he said. "We enjoy winning and whatever it takes to win, we'll do it. Defense wins games and we take pride in holding our opponents down."
Rutgers committed 14 turnovers and shot 6-for-20 from 3-point range. Both teams struggled from the line as Pitt shot 18-for-33 and Rutgers 10-for-23. The Knights' Rashod Kent was 1-for-8 from the line.
"They did a great job of containing us inside," said Waters, who got just 11 points from his post players. "We didn't execute the way we're supposed to execute on offense. We had no inside presence."
