Patterson's 23 spark Pitt win
NEW YORK — Pittsburgh had been known for a long time for its tenacious defense and it hasn’t stopped even with the emphasis on new rules that have made it harder to cover people than in the past.
“Defense is how you separate yourself,” Panthers senior forward Lamar Patterson said after scoring a career-high 23 points in a 76-53 victory over Texas Tech on Monday night in the semifinals of the Progressive Legends Classic.
Even with the new rules, the Panthers were allowing just 54.8 points on 36.8 percent shooting entering the game against the Red Raiders.
How do the Panthers adjust to the lack of hand-checking and contact?
“Just moving our feet. That’s all we can do,” Patterson said. “If we touch them it’s a foul and if we get two in the first half we’re coming out.”
No Panther would want to miss the first half lately.
This was the second straight game Pitt put an opponent away early. The Panthers took off to a 47-23 halftime lead over Lehigh last week on the way to a 77-58 victory.
On Monday, they opened the game on a 34-8 run on the way to a 41-18 halftime lead.
“I’m real excited how we played to start the game,” Pitt coach Jamie Dixon said. “We seem to be in a pattern of doing that now and that’s a good thing to have going for you.”
The Panthers (5-0) will play Stanford, which beat Houston 86-76, in the championship game on Tuesday night at Barclays Center.
Cameron Wright added 12 points for Pittsburgh, which had a 36-10 record at Madison Square Garden, the arena across the river, since 2000-01 as a member of the Big East. The Panthers are in their first season in the ACC.
“We definitely were excited to be on the road and get into Brooklyn and get tougher competition,” Wright said. “We approach every game the same way.”
Jaye Crockett had 19 points for the Red Raiders (4-2), in their first season under coach Tubby Smith.
“We missed a lot of easy shots we usually make,” Crockett said. “We just missed too many easy shots.
The Panthers were 12 for 26 from the field in the first half, including going 6 of 14 from 3-point range.
