Pitt eventually tops St. John's
PITTSBURGH — The shots weren't dropping and No. 17 Pittsburgh was being pushed around inside by unranked St. John's. A two-game Panthers losing streak was starting to look like it might become a rare three-game slide.
At least until the Panthers did what they've done most of this season when games are in doubt: They clamped down defensively and made their free throws.
Ashton Gibbs and Gary McGhee scored key baskets to start a game-ending 9-1 run and Pittsburgh overcame some poor shooting and a large rebounding disparity for a 63-53 victory over St. John's Thursday night.
Brad Wanamaker scored 16 points, Gibbs added 14 points and McGhee scored eight of his 10 points in the second half as the Panthers (16-4, 6-2 Big East) rallied from a six-point deficit to end their first two-game skid in nearly two years.
"It's the Big East. Everybody's coming back. There's no lead that's safe, especially playing on somebody's home court," Red Storm coach Norm Roberts said. "They're a very good defensive team and they made some big shots. Shots they didn't make in the first half they made in the second half."
Justin Burrell scored 14 points and Dwight Hardy had 12 despite making only three of 10 shots for St. John's (12-8, 2-6), which lost its seventh in 10 games.
The Red Storm trailed 54-52 after D.J. Kennedy's two free throws with 1:56 to play. But Gibbs hit a 15-footer from the left wing to put Pitt back up by four and, after Burrell drew an offensive foul, McGhee dunked with a minute remaining to make it 58-52.
The Panthers finished it off at the foul line, where they were 21 of 24. They shot 40 percent (20 of 50) from the field — 52.2 percent (12 of 23) in the second half — after being in the low 30s for the first 30 minutes.
The Red Storm outrebounded Pitt 41-31 but shot 32.8 percent (19 of 58), 26.7 percent (8 of 30) in the second half.
"I thought we did it with our defense, which was good and what we wanted," Pittsburgh coach Jamie Dixon said. "We had a much better performance in the defensive end, contesting shots and in transition, and we didn't turn it over."
The Panthers had nine turnovers, six fewer than St. John's and 11 fewer than they had in losing at Seton Hall 64-61 Sunday.
"We were more intense (defensively), more on the same page, and we were talking more — something we didn't do the last couple of games — and they shot a bad percentage," Wanamaker said. "We got back in the flow and hopefully it will carry on to the next game."
Wanamaker scored all but three of his 16 points in the second half.
Kennedy, a Pittsburgh high school teammate of ex-Pitt star DeJuan Blair who came in averaging 15.3 points, missed eight of 11 shots and finished with nine points and eight rebounds.
"He's a tough kid and wants to win so bad," Roberts said. "He probably was trying real hard, but I wouldn't say he was pressing."
