PITTSBURGH — Pittsburgh coach Jamie Dixon has decided to divide his team’s season up into two parts.

The first part — the one without senior guard Cam Wright didn’t go so well. The second part — the one with the team’s most experienced player recovered from a foot injury — is perfect so far.

Wright scored a season-high 14 points and the Panthers eased their way to a 65-56 win over Manhattan on Wednesday night for their third straight victory, all with Wright in the lineup.

“We’re 3-0 with Cameron back and that’s how we look at things,” Dixon said. “There’s a lot of days to look forward here. A lot of days to get better.”

For Wright the view on the floor beats the one from the sideline, where he watched Pitt limp to a 4-3 start without him.

“I saw the game from a whole different perspective,” Wright said. “I was like Coach Wright. It’s a blessing to be out there. I love these guys to death.”

It showed. Wright hit 6 of 10 shots to go with two assists, two steals and a rebound on a night Pitt (7-3) extended its nonconference home winning streak to 27 games and counting.

Jamel Artis led the Panthers with a career-high 20 points and grabbed eight rebounds. Michael Young added 16 points.