Previewing Pitt vs. the Dukes tonight at Consol Energy Center with Josh Taylor and Pitt Hoops Beat Writer John Harris. Talking about the history of the series, the line-ups for tonight.
From Pitt PR-
THE OPENING TIP
• Pitt faces cross-town foe Duquesne Friday, Dec. 4 (7 p.m. – CBS Sports Network) at CONSOL Energy Center in the City Game.
• Jason Knapp (play-by-play) and Mo Cassara (analyst) will call Friday’s action on CBS Sports Network. Bill Hillgrove (play-by-play), Dick Groat (analyst) and Curtis Aiken (analyst) will have the radio call on the Pitt IMG Sports Network.
• The Panthers have won 14 consecutive games against Duquesne with the past five wins coming at CONSOL Energy Center.
LAST TIME OUT
• Pitt dropped its first game of the season, 72-59, to No. 11 Purdue Tuesday in a Big Ten / ACC Challenge matchup.
• Michael Young recorded his second double-double of the season with 16 points and 12 rebounds, including five offensive boards.
• James Robinson scored a team-high 17 points to go along with four assists, one block and a steal in the loss.
• Pitt fell behind 24-7 just under 10 minutes into the game before closing the half on a 19-5 run to trail 29-26 at intermission.
• The Panthers grabbed a one-point lead on a Robinson jumper with 12:21 remaining, but Purdue made 5-of-7 three-point field goals down the stretch to come away with the win.
• Pitt allowed a season-high 11 three-point field goals with Purdue going 6-of-11 from long range in the second half.
• The Panthers had season-lows in scoring (59), field goal percentage (.351), three-point percentage (.211) and assists (14).
BY THE NUMBERS
• Pitt and Duquesne played the first basketball game at CONSOL Energy Center Dec. 1, 2001. The Panthers came away with an 80-66 victory as Ashton Gibbs scored a team-high 22 points.
• Pitt has not lost back-to-back non-conference games since the 2006-07 season. The Panthers fell to No. 7 Wisconsin and No. 15 Oklahoma State in mid-December of that season.
• The Panthers are 66-34 following a loss under Jamie Dixon (does not include results after season ending losses).
• Pitt is 119-66 (.643) all-time against teams currently in the Atlantic 10 conference, including a 21-2 mark under Jamie Dixon.
• The Panthers have won 11 consecutive regular season contests versus Atlantic 10 opponents.
• Michael Young is the only player in the ACC to rank among the conference leaders in scoring, rebounds, offensive rebounds, defensive rebounds, field goal percentage and assists.
• The trio of Jamel Artis, James Robinson and Michael Young has started 39 consecutive games as a unit. Robinson has started 107 of 108 career contests, while Young has started every game (75) of his career.
• James Robinson owns a career 3.59:1 assist-to-turnover ratio, tops in ACC history (minimum two years and 300 assists). Robinson has recorded more assists than turnovers in 101 of 108 career games. He has 23 assists and four turnovers through five games this season.
• Pitt’s post rotation of Michael Young, Ryan Luther, Sheldon Jeter, Alonzo Nelson-Ododa and Rafael Maia combines to average 35.4 points and 23.4 rebounds per game, while shooting 55.3 percent (68-of-123) from the field.
• Pitt’s bench has been productive, averaging 34.0 points per game, in the early part of the season. The Panthers have had six double-figure scorers off the bench this season. Sheldon Jeter has a pair of double-digit scoring efforts, while Chris Jones scored a season-high 15 points off the bench against Cornell.
• James Robinson currently ranks eighth at Pitt with 461 career assists. He has recorded at least one assist in 67 straight games, tied for the fourth-longest streak in program history.
• Pitt is 5-1 all-time at CONSOL Energy Center with all five wins coming in the City Game against Duquesne. The Panthers loss was to No. 11 Tennessee, 83-76, Dec. 11, 2010 in the SEC / Big East Invitational.
• The previous five Pitt-Duquesne games at CONSOL Energy Center averaged 13,576 fans with the top attendance of 15,880 on Nov. 30, 2011.
• James Robinson scored a career-high 23 points in last season’s win over Duquesne. He is averaging 13.3 points, 4.0 rebounds and 7.0 assists per game in three career wins over the Dukes.
• The Panthers are averaging 12.8 offensive rebounds and 17.6 second chance points per game. Pitt has a 88-43 advantage on second chance points through five games.
• Pitt leads the ACC in assists (20.8 apg.) and blocked shots (5.8 bpg.), while also ranking second in free throw percentage (.770), field goal percentage defense (.368), three-point field goal percentage defense (.324) and assist-to-turnover ratio (2.04:1).
• Pitt is 267-59 against unranked opponents under Jamie Dixon.
• The Panthers are looking to snap a three-game losing streak away from the Petersen Events Center. Pitt was just 5-11 in road/neutral games last season.
• Jamel Artis has scored in double-figures in the first half three times on the year. He is averaging 10.2 points on 18-of-29 (.621) shooting in the opening half of play.
• Pitt has won six straight games in the month of December and is 16-3 in the month over the past three seasons. Jamie Dixon owns a 72-10 mark in the month of December for his career.
• Pitt has a +15.7 scoring margin during its current 14-game win streak over Duquesne. The Panthers have won eight of the games during that stretch by 15 or more points.
