Pittsburgh Panthers Tickets

Pittsburgh gives Dixon extension

steve — Sat, 03 Apr 2010 15:17:09 +0000

The Pittsburgh Panthers already gave their football coach a contract extension, so why not the basketball coach, too?

The school gave Jamie Dixon a contract extension, though the terms of it have not been released.

Dixon was previous signed through the 2015-2016 season, so he already had a lot of security.

The Panthers were getting concerned that the highly-coveted Dixon might be tempted to go elsewhere.

Oregon is currently looking for a head coach and had expressed an interest in interviewing Dixon.

Pittsburgh gives Wannstedt extension

steve — Sat, 03 Apr 2010 13:00:01 +0000

The Pittsburgh Panthers have rewarded head coach Dave Wannstedt with a two-year contract extension.

Wannstedt has been the ire of many during his coaching career in the NFL and college, but he seems to have found a home in Pittsburgh.

The team has still struggled to win big games, but the program has been stabilized under his watch.

He said that most coaches would be out looking for other jobs after his recent success, but he is committed to the university.

Wannstedt even went as far as to say this his last job, which has to make the school feel good about their football program.

Pittsburgh holds off Villanova, 70-65

steve — Sat, 27 Feb 2010 00:55:30 +0000

The No. 21 Pittsburgh Panthers continued their home dominance with a 70-65 upset of the No. 3 Villanova Wildcats.

Ashton Gibbs led the Panthers with 21 points while Gilbert Brown added 16 coming off of the bench.

The Panthers took a six-point lead into halftime of what was a very low scoring game at halftime.

The scoring picked up considerably in the second half, but the Panthers were able to match the Wildcats basket for basket.

What was most surprising was that the Panthers only had three more rebounds than the Wildcats but still managed to pull out the victory.

Panthers Upset ‘Nova at Home, 70-65

bryan — Tue, 23 Feb 2010 02:36:49 +0000

The Oakland Zoo was too much for the Villanova Wildcats.

With a school record 12,920 fans going crazy in Pittsburgh, the Panthers managed to upset the third-ranked Wildcats on Sunday, 70-65, which pulled them into a tie with West Virginia for third place in the rough-and-rugged Big East.

Pitt wanted revenge for last year’s Elite 8 game with the Wildcats, in which then-junior Scottie Reynolds drove through the lane in the waning seconds for an easy lay-up, securing the Wildcats’ spot in the Final Four.

“I wanted to win that game for the players that left last year,” said Pitt guard Jermaine Dixon, one of only two seniors this year for Pitt. “I felt bad for losing that game and I felt responsible and I definitely wanted to win that game for them.”

Despite a rough 3-of-15 night shooting the ball, Dixon turned in a stat-stuffing performance, Ashton Gibbs scored 21 points, and Brad Wanamaker scored 16 for the Panthers.

“We stepped closer to winning the Big East regular season,” Jermaine Dixon said. “Last year, we put it past us now that this game is over, and that’s just a step to us getting the Big East regular season.”

Villanova guard Scottie Reynolds, who was saddled by foul trouble for most of the first half, finished the game with 20 points.

Pittsburgh rolls past Robert Morris, 77-53

steve — Sun, 14 Feb 2010 22:54:16 +0000

The No. 23 Pittsburgh Panthers got back on the winning track with a 77-53 pasting of the local rival Robert Morris Colonials.

The Panthers led by just six at halftime, which is hardly surprising given that many Robert Morris players go overlooked by the Panthers in the recruiting process.

Eventually, the Panthers talent simply won out and was just too much for the Colonials to deal with in the second half. The Panthers had a 39-26 rebounding edge on the Colonials, just one area where they dominated play.

Ashton Gibbs led the Panthers with 20 points while Jermaine Dixon added 18.

For the Panthers, the break from the rigorous conference schedule will hopefully re-energize them for a push down the stretch and toward the NCAA tournament.

Panthers Hammered by Mountaineers, 70-51

bryan — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 01:33:00 +0000

West Virginia is suddenly becoming one of the most hostile environments in college basketball.

The fans took it to a whole new level on Wednesday night, throwing objects on the court in the middle of the second half as Pitt was cutting a double-digit deficit to two points. But once WVU’s coach Bob Huggins got the crowd back under control, his team blasted out to a 15-4 run to ice the Panthers away, beating them 70-51 on Wednesday night.

“We knew they had a rowdy crowd,” Pittsburgh’s Jermaine Dixon said. “But the best part is that we get to play them up at our place in a couple days.”

Dixon led the Panthers with 13 points in his return from an injury, while Ashton Gibbs chipped in 11 for Pitt. The Panthers’ second-leading scorer, Brad Wanamaker, was held scoreless on 0-for-4 shooting.

WVU ran out to an early-double digit lead, before Pitt started charging back right before halftime. Unfortunately for the Panthers, they couldn’t keep the momentum going in the second half, as they made just six field goals over the final 20 minutes and shot an abysmal 30 percent from the field.

“They deserved to win,” Pittsburgh coach Jamie Dixon said. “It was 43-41 and we didn’t get a rebound after that and that’s where we got beat.”

After starting 5-0 in the Big East, Pitt has lost four of its past five conference games.

Pittsburgh upset by Seton Hall, 64-61

steve — Fri, 29 Jan 2010 22:19:27 +0000

The No. 9 Pittsburgh Panthers saw their hot streak come to a screeching halt in a stunning, 64-61 loss to the Seton Hall Pirates.

It’s the first time that Pittsburgh has dropped two straight games since February 2008. That just goes to show you how consistent they have been.

Ashton Gibbs led the Panthers with 23 points, and he made all 14 of his free throw attempts.

He also had two cracks at the tying three-pointer in the final five seconds, but came up empty on both attempts. Jermaine Dixon added 11 points.

Head coach Jamie Dixon wasn’t pleased with the effort, saying his team failed to execute well enough on both ends of the floor to come away with a victory.

No. 17 Panthers protect home court, get past St. John’s

Raj Sethi — Fri, 29 Jan 2010 16:00:36 +0000

The No. 17 Pittsburgh Panthers will never be confused with the high-scoring UNLV Runnin’ Rebels teams of the early 90’s, or even recent North Carolina Tar Heels teams. But wins are wins, and no matter how ugly their brand of basketball can look at times, the Panthers still win.

Especially at home.

Pittsburgh looked sluggish throughout in a 63-53 win over the St. John’s Red Storm on Thursday night, but found a way to protect its home court a little over a week after Georgetown ended its 31-game home winning streak. The Panthers trailed by six midway through the second half before ratcheting up the intensity on both ends of the floor.

Brad Wanamaker scored a team-high 16 points, and Ashton Gibbs added 14 for Pittsburgh, which ended the game on a 9-1 run. The Panthers limited the Red Storm to under 27 percent shooting in the second half, and 33 percent for the game to help overcome a 2-of-12 performance from beyond the arc. Pittsburgh also made it count at the charity stripe, where it was 21 of 24.