Gold Defeats Blue 58-48 in Blue-Gold Scrimmage

Sunday, October 19

Pittsburgh, Pa.

TBA

Pitt

Maggie Dixon Heart Health Fair/Fan Fest/Blue-Gold Scrimmage

Gold Defeats Blue 58-48 in Blue-Gold Scrimmage

10/19/2014 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball

Oct. 19, 2014

Box Score | Maggie Dixon Heart Health Fair/Fan Fest PHOTO GALLERY | Blue-Gold Scrimmage PHOTO GALLERY |

PITTSBURGH--Led by James Robinson, Joseph Uchebo, Chris Jones and Jamel Artis, the Gold team built a first half lead and held off several Blue rallies en route to a 58-48 win in Pitt Basketball's Blue-Gold Scrimmage Sunday. The 32-minute scrimmage was part of a full day of activities at the Petersen Events Center, which included its sixth annual Maggie Dixon Heart Health Fair and Fan Fest. It marked Pitt's second intrasquad scrimmage of the 2014-15 preseason.

The scrimmage also saw the competitive return of junior Durand Johnson, who was making his first appearance since he tore his ACL in a game on Jan. 11, 2014 vs. Wake Forest. Johnson finished the game with seven points and converted one of his trademark 3-pointers in 28 minutes of action.

For the Gold team, Robinson registered a team-high 15 points and tallied a game-high seven assists, Uchebo finished with 12 points and seven rebounds, Jones added 10 points, including two 3-pointers and Artis contributed nine points for the winners. Blue player Michael Young led all scorers with a game-high 20 points after he converted six of 11 field goals and grabbed six rebounds. He also hit all eight of his free throw attempts.

Gold used an 11-0 first half run to take a 20-8 first half lead with 6:01 left in the first half. After Aron Phillips-Nwankwo gave Gold a one-point lead, Robinson started the run with a layup, followed by a Chris Jones 3-pointer. Two Joshua Ko free throws gave Gold an eight-point lead (16-8), then Artis hit 1-2 free throws and Robinson followed with a 3-pointer for its 20-8 lead. Gold never trailed the rest of the way.

After halftime, the Blue squad cut the lead down to as few as two points (27-25) with 14:58 left but two Uchebo layups, five points from Artis and a Sheldon Jeter dunk gave the Gold a 42-30 advantage with 10:05 to play. Once again, Blue cut the lead down to four points (50-46) on a Josh Newkirk jumper with 2:31 left, but Gold quickly responded with layups from Uchebo and Robinson to seal the win.

Senior Cameron Wright, who is sidelined with a left foot injury, was the only player who did not see action.

As part of the University of Pittsburgh's 2014 Homecoming festivities, Pitt Basketball and Pitt Volleyball will combine to host "Spike and Slam Madness" on Friday, Oct. 24 at Fitzgerald Field House. First, the Pitt Volleyball team (15-2, 3-1 ACC) will face undefeated and No. 4 ranked Florida State (17-0) at 7 p.m., then immediately following the match, the Pitt men's and women's basketball teams will host their version of "Midnight Madness." Admission is free and open to the public for the entire evening. "Spike and Slam Madness" will highlight the 2014-15 Pitt men's and women's basketball teams and feature player introductions, promotional activities, a hot shot competition and a slam dunk contest. Attending Pitt students will receive two (2) loyalty points for attending while the first 500 will receive a free "Spike and Slam Madness" tee-shirt. Doors open at 6 p.m.

Pitt's two exhibition games are scheduled for Friday, Oct. 31 (vs. Indiana, Pa. at 7 p.m.) and Friday, Nov. 7 (vs. Philadelphia at 7 p.m.). Pitt opens regular season play against Niagara on Friday, Nov. 14 at 7 p.m.

Pitt returns three starters and 11 letterwinners from a team that finished 26-10 overall and advanced to its 12^th NCAA Tournament in the last 13 seasons. For more information and updated news on Pitt Basketball, follow twitter.com/hailtopitthoops. For more information on the Pitt basketball team check out the 2014-15 Schedule, 2014-15 Pitt Prospectus and updated 2014-15 Roster.