PITTSBURGH — Kendrick Perry was the latest of a series of talented guards to play against Pitt and score more than 20 points. But in each game, Pitt won, as the Panthers beat Perry’s Youngstown State 91-73.

Perry scored 28 points against the Panthers, the highest single-game scoring performance against Pitt (10-0) by an opposing player this year, but didn’t factor into the game’s outcome.

“I’d be much happier if I scored 8 points and we got a win,” Perry said.

There was a pre-existing level of familiarity between Perry and some of Pitt’s players — he played with some Panthers in Pittsburgh Basketball Club’s Greentree Summer League the past two summers. In Greentree, players like Pitt point guard James Robinson learned about Perry’s game, which prepared Robinson and Pitt to defend him.

“We knew he was going to be aggressive,” Robinson said. “Obviously we didn’t do that good of a job on him, but we were still fortunate enough to come out with the win.”

Between each of the three games featuring excellent opposing guards, the Panthers have been able to hold teams and players below their scoring average.

“We just want to play help, play good team defense and contain the other guys,” freshman Josh Newkirk said.