PITTSBURGH — DeJuan Blair became tangled with DePaul's Matija Poscic as the two went for a rebound early in the game, but only for a moment. Once he realized Blair was pulling him as well as the ball, Poscic quickly yanked his arm away.

One could almost read Poscic's mind: Uhh, uhh, not happening to me.

Blair outmuscled DePaul inside for 20 points and 18 rebounds while setting No. 4 Pittsburgh's two-game record for rebounds, and the Panthers pulled away early in the second half for an 80-61 victory on Saturday night.

Blair, averaging 20 points during Pitt's seven-game winning streak, followed up his dominating 22-point, 23-rebound effort in a 76-68 win at No. 1 Connecticut on Monday with a similar can't-stop-me show, gathering 13 rebounds in the first 13 minutes and 16 by halftime.

In that game, Blair signaled early on that he didn't care if he was on the Huskies' home court, in front of their fans, he planned to take charge. He did that by effectively tossing 7-foot-3 Hasheem Thabeet over his shoulder during a rebound — and, intimidated or not, Thabeet ended with only 5 points and 4 rebounds.

No wonder Poscic wasn't about to experience a Thabeet-like takedown.

"I started laughing, man, because he got his arm out quick," Blair said. "I was snatching the ball. I think he saw what happened. He wasn't going to go over me and fly into the Zoo" — referring to the Oakland Zoo, the Pitt student section.

Blair's 41 rebounds in successive games surpassed the Pitt record of 38 by former NBA player Jerome Lane.

"I was feeling I could get every rebound," Blair said. "I was going after the ball, going to get the money — that's what I call the ball, the money. Go get that money, and we're going to get a win. I'll do anything for my team to win."

The 6-foot-7 Blair was limited to 2 rebounds in the second half, mostly because the Panthers (25-2, 12-2 in Big East) didn't miss as many shots — 10 of his 18 rebounds were on the offensive end. He played only nine minutes in the second half, and 23 overall, after outrebounding DePaul 16-10 in the first half by himself.

"He has a Charles Barkley kind of body and a great feel for playing," DePaul coach Jerry Wainwright said.

Blair missed by two rebounds of becoming the first Pitt player to have at least 20 points and 20 rebounds in successive games, and of accomplishing it for the third time this season. Previously, former NBA star Billy Knight was the only Pitt player to have a pair of 20-20 games in a Pitt career.

"But you ask our guys, individual stats are secondary to winning," Pitt coach Jamie Dixon said. "The 25 wins are what's important. A lot of our guys didn't play more minutes for obvious reasons."

Duquesne 79, La Salle 68

PHILADELPHIA — Aaron Jackson scored 17 of his 25 points in the first half to lead Duquesne to a 79-68 win over La Salle Sunday.

Damian Saunders added 22 points, matching his career high, for the Dukes (16-9, 7-5 Atlantic 10), who had lost three of their last four.

Rodney Green had 14 points to lead four players in double figures for the Explorers (14-12, 5-7), who dropped their second straight.

The victory guarantees Duquesne its second straight winning season, marking the first time since the 1979-80 and 1980-81 seasons they will finish above .500 in two straight campaigns.

Jackson got Duquesne off to a strong start, making seven of his first nine shots to finish with 17 points in the first half.