PITTSBURGH — DeJuan Blair watched most of Pittsburgh's previous game from the bench because of foul trouble.

He didn't have that problem against Notre Dame on Saturday, and the sophomore center responded in a big way.

Blair had 23 points and a career-high 22 rebounds and the third-ranked Panthers rallied from a rare halftime deficit for a 93-80 victory, the Fighting Irish's fifth straight loss.

Levance Fields scored 17 points, Jermaine Dixon had 16 and reserves Ashton Gibbs and Brad Wanamaker both added 13 for the Panthers (19-2, 7-2 Big East), who bounced back from a loss at Villanova on Wednesday to win their 15th consecutive home game.

In that loss, Blair had seven points and four fouls in 23 minutes. He had three fouls in 31 minutes against Notre Dame, but his last two came in the final 1:32 of the game.

"I knew there would be rebound opportunities for DeJuan if we kept him on the floor," Pittsburgh coach Jamie Dixon said. "He was going to be around the basket, we just had to keep him on the floor."

Blair's 22 rebounds set a Pittsburgh record for Big East play. He became the eighth player in the school's history to record a 20-20 game, and the first since Chris McNeal had 27 points and 20 rebounds against Boston College on March 3, 1992.

"My team did a good job of getting me the ball," Blair said. "Twenty-two rebounds? I didn't know that. That's crazy. That's really something."

Blair, the fourth-leading rebounder in the nation with a 12.4 average, said he was motivated by his matchup against Luke Harangody, the Big East's leading scorer and third-leading rebounder in the country.