Gibbs shoots Pitt past Binghamton

In order to beat Binghamton Tuesday night at the Petersen Events Center, Pitt made the most of several favorable conditions, whether it was the Panthers’ 50% shooting rate from the floor, low turnover numbers, or rebounding advantage.

But for the first half, at least, all Pitt needed was Ashton Gibbs, since the sophomore guard’s 17 points in the first 20 minutes equaled Binghamton’s output over that span. Add in the rest of the team’s 20 points in the first half, and Pitt held a 37-17 advantage at halftime en route to a 71-46 victory.

Gibbs finished with a career-high 22 points while making six-of-10 three-pointers.

“I had a couple open ones, so I just tried to take advantage of it by knocking them down, and that’s what I did,” he said after the game. The six made three-point shots also represented a career high for the sophomore and comes one game after he missed all five three-point attempts in the regular-season opener against Wofford.

“I have confidence in myself, so I know that if I have an open one, I’m going to be confident to make it and keep shooting.”

“He’s going to have some games where he shoots it really well, like tonight, and then he’s going to have some other games where he doesn’t shoot as well,” Pitt coach Jamie Dixon said after the game. “We have to get him good shots, he’s got to be in the right spot, and he’s got to be ready to shoot. We know he’s a very good shooter and he’s proven that.”

The job of getting the ball to Gibbs and the rest of the Pitt offense falls on redshirt freshman point guard Travon Woodall, who dished out 13 assists Tuesday night. He also scored 10 points, giving him his first career double-double; more notably, he eclipsed the double-digit mark in assists in his second career start. Woodall’s predecessor, Levance Fields, didn’t record 10 assists in a game until his senior year.

“When you have players like Ashton, it’s pretty easy to find open guys like that,” Woodall said. “I’m going to credit a lot of my assists to Levance from last year; he did a great job of showing me how to be real patient and take advantage of what the defense gives me.”

“One thing we really emphasized going into it was getting guys shots,” Dixon said. “We did a great job of that, and the numbers indicate it: 24 assists on 27 baskets is as good an example of that as you can have.

“We were unselfish, and I think we understood we could get good shots if we had patience.”

In addition to Woodall’s 13, senior guard Chase Adams had three assists and sophomore forward Nasir Robinson recorded five. Robinson also scored seven points and grabbed 10 rebounds.

“I can do a pretty good job passing the ball, rebounding, and scoring,” Robinson said. “I just try to go out there and get my [teammates] the ball, like Ash on the outside and Gary [McGhee] down low, just trying to get my teammates involved.”

For Pitt, junior guard Brad Wanamaker scored 14, while junior center Gary McGhee scored nine points and pulled in six rebounds. Freshman Dante Taylor had six and four.

As a team, Pitt committed just six turnovers, compared to 13 for Binghamton.

“I think we were a lot more patient,” Woodall said. “Against Wofford we were out of character, and Coach preached to us to play how we practice. Today I think we did an excellent job of passing the ball and getting guys open shots like we do in practice.”

Tuesday’s contest was the first game of the city regional round in the O’Reilly Auto Parts CBE Classic. Pitt (2-0) will take on Eastern Kentucky Thursday night in the second game of the round.

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