PITTSBURGH — With his team coming off its third double-digit loss in two weeks, Pittsburgh coach Jamie Dixon buried his whistle in practice and dared his players to stop getting pushed around.

Consider Sheldon Jeter all ears.

Pressed into his first start of the season with Rafael Maia limited by a groin injury, Jeter scored a career-high 23 points as the Panthers pulled away from Virginia Tech in a 90-71 win on Sunday night.

Jeter scored 13 of Pitt’s first 17 points and poured it on late as the Panthers (17-4, 6-3) sent the Hokies to their fourth straight loss.

“A couple of our past performances the last couple weeks, we’ve been out-physicaled,” Jeter said. “A lot of people were called out. I was one of them.”

Whether the Panthers have legitimately toughened up probably won’t be answered until they begin a brutal stretch that includes games against Virginia, Miami and North Carolina. The way they executed offensively against Virginia Tech (12-10, 4-5), toughness wasn’t exactly required.

Michael Young finished with 13 points and seven bounds and Jamel Artis had 11 points, six rebounds and four assists. Pitt picked up 30 assists on 36 field goals and converted 20 Hokie turnovers into 33 points the other way. The Panthers outscored Virginia Tech 40-22 in the paint and shot 53 percent from the field, taking firm control late in the first half and never letting the Hokies make it interesting the rest of the way.

“They shredded us in every way,” Virginia Tech coach Buzz Williams said.

Seth Allen scored a career high 28 for the Hokies, including 5 of 5 3-pointers. Jalen Hudson added 13 and Justin Bibbs and Zach LeDay had 12 each but Virginia Tech couldn’t keep pace with the Panthers, who returned to the uptempo and efficient style that served them so well earlier in the season.

“It was the worst we’ve been,” Williams said. “Twenty turnovers, that was 28 percent of our possessions, not very good. They were incredible offensively.”

Both teams came in searching for momentum with their hot starts in league play fading as the calendar ticked toward February. Pitt was sluggish early in a 73-60 loss at Clemson last week, the third blowout the Panthers suffered in a span of 13 days.

The Hokies, meanwhile, have been more competitive but had nothing to show for it other than three straight losses to ACC blue bloods Notre Dame, Louisville and North Carolina by a combined 15 points.

Maia’s tweaked groin provided an opportunity for Jeter, typically the first man off the bench. The junior wasted little time.