Wanamaker, McGhee lead Pitt to win

Prior to the season opener against Wofford Friday night, Pitt raised a banner commemorating the 2008-09 men’s basketball team’s run to the Elite Eight. But when the 2009-10 Panthers took the floor following the ceremony, the team looked very different from the squad being honored.

Far from the experienced, high-scoring, strong-rebounding Pitt team of a year ago, the current Panthers are young and still trying to find their direction, and those issues were on full display Friday night at the Petersen Events Center as the home team clawed out a 63-60 victory over its Southern Conference foes.

But before Pitt could clinch a victory, the youthful Panthers had battle back from multiple double-digit deficits against a Wofford team that returned five starters from its 2008-09 squad.

“I’ve had the opportunity to watch our guys get better in practice, and you guys had the opportunity to watch them get better as the game went on,” head coach Jamie Dixon said after the game. “That’s what’s so exciting about this group.”

Junior center Gary McGhee opened the game’s scoring with a dunk 22 seconds into the game, but the Panthers didn’t see another lead for 38 minutes of game time, when McGhee converted an “and-1” from an offensive rebound to put Pitt ahead 59-58.

“I saw the opening and I knew we needed a rebound,” McGhee said. “It was just right there so I went up and grabbed it, stepped through, got the ‘and-one’ and got to the free throw line. I knew we needed a free throw so I just knocked it down.

“That was probably one of the biggest free throws of my career so far.”

One minute later, McGhee got a put-back on a missed shot by sophomore Nasir Robinson to put Pitt ahead by three. McGhee finished with seven points, a game-high eight rebounds, and three blocks in his second career start and the first of what figures to be a season of starts.

“This was exactly the type of game we needed in our first game,” Dixon said. “We had guys asked to do things that they’ve never done before, and they did and they made big plays. I’m so proud of them.”

McGhee’s performance in the final two-and-a-half minutes was arguably the key stretch for Pitt, but minutes earlier, Wanamaker - another first-year starter - made his own run.

With 15:49 left in the second half, Wofford went up 41-28, but Pitt answered with a 10-0 run for its first offensive burst of the game. The Terriers answered back with a brief run before Wanamaker hit his stride, scoring 10 points in just over three minutes. He scored on a jumper, a layup, a three-point trip to the foul line, and an “and-one” to pull Pitt within three points - 56-53 - as the clock ticked down to the four-minute mark.

Prior to that three-minute stretch, Wanamaker had five points on two-of-seven shooting and three turnovers. He finished the game with a team-high 15 points.

“It was fun to watch it happen,” Dixon said. “I think it was a great learning experience and I think it was great for Brad and Gary to make the big plays down the stretch.”

“I felt like I had to step my game up,” Wanamaker said. “We made big plays down the stretch. We felt the momentum and the crowd got into it. Once the crowd started getting back into it, we got into it and we started making plays.”

When the Panthers whittled down the Terriers’ 13-point lead, the assembled 10,112 at the Petersen Events Center became as raucous as any sell-out has been in the building.

“Our fans were unbelievable; they pulled us through,” Dixon said.

Freshman center Dante Taylor scored 13 points and grabbed five rebounds in his collegiate regular season debut.

Prior to the game, the scoreboard broadcast recorded messages from the leaders of the 2008-09 team, Tyrell Biggs, Levance Fields, Sam Young, and DeJuan Blair, as the University prepared to hoist the Elite Eight banner.

But the current Panthers didn’t look like those four departed players in the first half, getting out-scored 31-24 and out-rebounded 19-12 in the initial 20 minutes.

“We’re a new team, most of us just being out there for our first starts,” Wanamaker said. “Everybody gets nerves before big games; for us it’s the first start and for the freshmen it’s the first game, so nerves are going to come.

“Early in the game we were still a little emotional, but as we got going and got our sweat going, we settled down. And at the end of the game we came through and made some good plays.

Keep in touch on the go. Follow PantherLair.com: