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Message: [QUOTE="RF2044, post: 4939854, member: 40"] Pitt has given us so much trouble over the past 20 years, and coming off last Saturday's blowout debacle @ UNC, having to go on the road to an arena where we traditionally struggle was a tall order. And early on, it appeared that Pitt was laser focused on paying us back for the big win we had over them in the Dome. Per usual, Pitt was uber physical, and at least in the early going, the officiating was preferential to them in that many obvious fouls went uncalled. Then, about midway through the 1st half, the refs started calling contact fairly evenly, and that's when we began to take control of the game. Hats off to Starling -- needed those perimeter shots to drop, and they did. We got 17 points [I believe] from the Bell / Taylor combo, including several shots from deep. Bell had 10 first half points. Taylor hit a three when Pitt had taken a 6 point lead [or thereabouts], at a critical time when things could have gotten out of control if we hadn't scored. [U]What a difference[/U] it makes when these guys score some baskets. Circumstances are now that Carey needs to play. He got a dose of minutes during the UNC blowout, when him being on the court wouldn't hurt us anymore [given that we were already down 30+], and he gave them some okay hustle minutes yesterday. Tall order throwing a kid who hasn't played into the mix and expecting them to produce, but we don't have a choice at this point. He needs to supply some minutes spelling Brown, and he's got 5 fouls to use. Thought Benny did a nice job, and even played some emergency minutes at the 5. Was really impressed that he stood up for Brown, given how unemotional he seems most of the time. Had no problem with the double technical -- thought the refs handled this entire situation really well. Copeland gives us toughness. That was a critical juncture of the game, and he stood up to the Pitt thug who is 24. Speaking of that, if you'd looked at some key stats beforehand -- like Pitt getting so many offensive rebounds and 2nd chance baskets, you'd expect that they would have killed us. And in previous years, that might have been the case. It was a familiar formula -- pound the glass, be physical with us, beat us into submission while we sit back in a passive zone and let them dictate tempo to us. Not anymore. Red has scored a solid pair of wins against Pitt. He outcoached Capel last night. And it was a pleasure seeing all of those douchey Pitt fans go home disappointed. [/QUOTE]

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