Pitt routs Seton Hall, 83-58
PITTSBURGH — Maybe Seton Hall guessed what kind of day it would be when the Pirates' bus got hung up after their midday shootaround and they hiked several blocks in knee-deep snow to their hotel.
During the game, it seemed as if No. 22 Pittsburgh was in fast forward and the Pirates were trudging wearily step by step in a blizzard, trying but failing to keep up with a motivated and determined opponent.
Gilbert Brown bounced back from a scoreless game with 23 points and Pittsburgh nearly shut out Seton Hall scoring leader Jeremy Hazell in an 83-58 rout Saturday that avenged a loss to the Pirates less than two weeks ago.
Hazell, the Big East's No. 2 scorer with a 23.0 points per game average, had his second successive subpar game against Pitt with two points on 1-of-7 shooting in 32 minutes after not starting.
"I guess when it rains, it pours," Seton Hall coach Bobby Gonzalez said. "Or, like they say, when it snows, it snows. We had a tough one from the beginning ... walking to the hotel in a state of emergency in the middle of the afternoon. Maybe that affected us, I don't know."
The Pirates couldn't even get out of town immediately after the loss because Pittsburgh's airport was shut down.
Hazell, held to nine points after getting into foul trouble during the Pirates' 64-61 victory on Jan. 24, scored 32 points in an 81-71 loss to No. 2 Villanova on Tuesday and had a combined 60 points in his previous two games. He was guarded mostly by Jermaine Dixon, one of the Big East's top shutdown defenders.
"I knew if we stopped him that we had a great chance to win," Dixon said. "Whenever he catches it, he's going to let it go, so I had to get up on him and play physical."
It might have helped Pitt that official Evon Burroughs didn't arrive because of the bad weather, forcing Mike Kitts and James Breeding to work a decidedly physical game by themselves.
Brown came out strong at the start after being shut out against West Virginia, scoring 11 points as Pitt (17-6, 7-4 Big East) took a 15-11 lead.
