Even Levance Fields found out how tough Pittsburgh teammate DeJuan Blair was Saturday during the Panthers’ 92-69 victory at DePaul.
After Fields missed a shot in the second half, Blair — all 6 feet 7 inches and 265 pounds of the wide-bodied center — stuffed the ball so hard on a dunk it knocked the 5-10, 190-pound point guard to the floor. Fields laughed and shook his head as Blair came into the huddle on the ensuing timeout.
For a team looking for lessons in an 11-game losing streak, DePaul (8-16, 0-11 Big East) learned one in toughness at Allstate Arena courtesy of No. 6 Pitt’s 40-minute instruction.
“Our guys have to learn how to play, fess up and tough it out,” DePaul coach Jerry Wainwright said. “The best way to do that is compete against the best and never lose the lesson. … If you make mistakes against good teams, bang, they’re going to get you.”
DePaul delivered a surprising start, taking a six-point lead through the first 16 minutes.
Fields cursed. Blair shouted, “Let’s go.” And Pitt (21-2, 8-2) flexed the muscles that have made it one of the most dominant teams in the Big East.
The Panthers hit back-to-back three-pointers in transition and ended the first half on a 13-0 run for a 42-33 lead. Pitt then wiped the smiles off DePaul’s faces, shooting 60 percent in the second half and outrebounding the Blue Demons 42-25 for the game.
“I feel we came out [of halftime] with a lot of energy,” said sophomore Dar Tucker, who returned from an ankle injury that sidelined him Tuesday against Marquette. “We weren’t making our shots, and our energy kind of died down.”
Blair scored continuously on put-backs for a career-high 32 points with 14 rebounds. He was one of three Pitt players to notch a double-double.
Fields had a career-high 16 assists with 13 points, and forward Sam Young scored 10 points with 10 rebounds.
“Wearing teams down is kind of what we do,” Pitt coach Jamie Dixon said. “We have a history of depth to finish teams off.”
DePaul doesn’t go deep, and players coming off its bench are mostly freshmen.
The Blue Demons were without a starter for the second straight game as point guard Jabari Currie sat out with a knee injury that he has been playing with most of the season, Wainwright said.
Mac Koshwal and Tucker led the Blue Demons, who shot 47.5 percent, with 18 points apiece. Tucker, however, was just 6 of 19.
Wainwright stressed both perseverance and frustration after the game. DePaul received a career-high nine points in 17 minutes from Kene Obi, but the 7-2 freshman had some defensive letdowns.
“I care about mental mistakes,” Wainwright said. “Our freshmen are getting an incredible opportunity to learn.”
———-
sryan@tribune.com
