Bleacher Report - Articles by Julianne Pelusi

DeJuan Blair Leads No. 3 Pittsburgh Past No. 8 Georgetown 70-54

Julianne Pelusi — Sun, 04 Jan 2009 13:45:00 -0500

Last week marked the beginning of conference play in the heavily stacked Big East. After John Thompson III’s young team traveled to defeat the veteran No. 2 ranked UConn Huskies this Monday, the Georgetown head coach had one thing on his mind.

"The Commissioner is not handing out any trophies after tonight, and we have a long, difficult road ahead of us. It doesn't get any easier," Thompson said during the post-game press conference. "You can't sit and dwell on this and enjoy this too much because we have Pitt sitting there on Saturday."

The No. 8 Georgetown Hoyas (10-2), however, were no match for the No. 3 Pittsburgh Panthers (14-0) this Saturday. The Panthers dominated the glass, coming up with a total of 43 rebounds, and scoring 14 points off the bench to defeat the Hoyas 70-54.

Midway through the second half, the Panthers turned a 40-40 tie into double-digit lead with a 17-4 run. While the Panthers were only three for 19 beyond the arc, they were able to compensate with 18 offensive rebounds and allowed the Hoyas to only accumulate four.

While Georgetown’s freshman center, Greg Monroe received most of the Big East’s preseason hype due to his incredible agility and speed, he was completely dominated by Pitt’s sophomore forward DeJuan Blair, who recorded his ninth double-double of the season with 17 rebounds and 20 points.

“He’s really strong. He used his strength to his advantage and that’s basically his game,” Monroe said of Blair. “[He] knows how to use his strength and that’s his whole game plan, using his strength and wide body under the basket to get points.”

While senior point guard Levance Fields only added six points to Pitt’s 70 points, he had eight assists and no turnovers to make his season assist/turnover ratio an impressive 91-to-19.

Senior forwards Tyrell Biggs and Sam Young each added 14 points for the Panthers, and sophomore Gilbert Brown contributed nine of the 14 points from the Pitt bench.

Although Pitt is renowned for its solid defense, the Panthers’ head coach Jamie Dixon attributes the win over the Hoyas to outstanding offensive play.

“What it got down to was our offense was very good, we got good shots, we didn’t shoot it well, which the numbers indicate we were 3-of-19 from three,” said Dixon, “but they were all good shots and the main part of our offense is taking good shots, which leads to better offensive rebounding opportunities and I thought this was a classic example of that.”

The Panthers will move on St. John’s next Sunday at noon at the Petersen Events Center.

No. 3 Pittsburgh Looks to Go 14-0 With a Win at No. 8 Georgetown

Julianne Pelusi — Fri, 02 Jan 2009 15:28:07 -0500

After No. 2 UConn's 74-63 loss to Georgetown earlier this week, the Panthers look to defeat the Hoyas this Saturday to move up to the No. 2 spot in the AP poll.

Pittsburgh is coming off of a 78-72 win over Rutgers on Wednesday where they were able to overcome two of the deficiencies that have plagued their team over the past year: not having a three-point shooter, and having DeJuan Blair in foul trouble.

Sophomore guard Brad Wanamaker came up big off the bench for the Panthers against Rutgers, with a career high of 15 points (thirteen of which were scored in the second half), and two clutch three-pointers.

The Panthers will take on No. 8 Georgetown (10-1, 1-0) at noon on Saturday at the Verizon Center in D.C.

Pittsburgh Defense Comes Up Big Against UConn: Panthers Headed To Sun Bowl

Julianne Pelusi — Sat, 06 Dec 2008 11:04:46 -0500

After a slow first half with the Pittsburgh offense gaining only five yards, the Pittsburgh defense came up big during the second half with five picks to put the offense in good position to score 31 points in the second half.

Senior linebacker, Scott McKillop was thrilled with the performance of the Pittsburgh defense today.

"This was a great team effort today," said McKillop. "The defense made a lot of plays while Greg Williams had two picks. We played one of our best games all season."

Which is no exaggeration. Along with senior linebacker Greg Williams' two interceptions (one of which was taken in for a touchdown from the UConn 20-yard line), junior defensive backs, Aaron Berry and Jovani Chappel and sophomore Dom DeCicco also came up with picks.

And not only did the defense come up with the picks, but they also put the offense in good position. Williams' non-scoring interception brought the ball to the UConn six-yard line, Chappel's placed the ball at the UConn 45-yard line, and Berry's was picked off at the UConn 48.

The offense then took off to score 31 points in the second half, including a LeSean McCoy 47-yard touchdown run, a Conor Lee 21-yard field goal, and a 28-yard Bill Stull pass to TE Nate Byham.

With the win, the Panthers will be heading to the Sun Bowl in El Paso, TX, where they will likely meet Oregon State, if the Southern Cal Trojans hold on to their lead over the UCLA Bruins to win the PAC-10.

Eight Big East Teams Placed In AP Top 25 Poll

Julianne Pelusi — Fri, 05 Dec 2008 12:52:57 -0500

After losing 78-60 to Villanova, Albany's head coach, Will Brown gave his opinions on the game during the post-game press conference which not only compliemented Villianova head coach, Jay Wright's Wildcats, but the entire Big East Conference.

"You just have so little room for error against Big East schools," said Brown, "especially the good ones."

The 'good ones' in the Big East are difficult to separate from the 'bad ones' this season, while all sixteen teams in the conference have started out their season .600 or better, and eight of those teams are currently ranked in the AP Top 25 Poll.

While the rankings may be a success for the conference as a whole, Big East Commissioner, Mike Tranghese is worried.

"I've always said our league is great for fans and the media, but it's a brutal league for coaches to keep on winning. Now I think everyone will be taking a shot at us because so much has been written about our league. But the great thing is, there is a tournament to decide the national champion at the end of the year."

No. 2 Connecticut and No. 3 Pittsburgh have shown they are both legitimate Final Four contenders.

Connecticut senior forward, Jeff Adrien believes that this is the year for the Huskies to win it all.

"We're a veteran team," said Adrien. "We feel good out there. We're ready to get this started."

After a loss to the Panthers in November, Tom Green, head coach of Fairleigh Dickinson expressed his amazement with head coach Jamie Dixon's team.

"I've been coaching [at Fairleigh Dickinson] for 25 years, I've been to three NCAA tournaments, and I've never seen a man-to-man defense like this. This is the best defense I've ever coached against.

"They played the ball; they blitzed. It was incredible...They played physical; they execute plays well; they passed the ball; they shared it well; they looked for the open man. This team looks like they're in mid-season form."

Along with No. 2 Connecticut, No. 3 Pittsburgh, No. 7 Notre Dame, No. 11 Louisville, No. 16 Syracuse, No. 17 Villanova, No. 20 Georgetown and No. 25 Marquette, Seton Hall has also shown that it will be a contender as well when conference play begins after upsetting both Southern Cal and Virginia Tech in the Puerto Rico Tip-Off Championship Tournament.

LeSean McCoy to Stay at Pitt

Julianne Pelusi — Fri, 05 Dec 2008 06:42:57 -0500

The 101st Backyard Brawl would have been the perfect ending to Pitt's sophomore tailback LeSean McCoy's success at Heinz Field.

McCoy ran for two touchdowns in the fourth quarter against West Virginia on Friday for a 19-15 Panther victory over the Mountaineers, which was assumed to be the last game at Heinz Field for McCoy—until just days before the game, when McCoy announced his intent to return next season.

Other Pitt greats, such as Larry Fitzgerald, have been eligible for the NFL draft after their sophomore year, due to completing a year at a prep school before playing at the collegiate level. McCoy, however, is not ready to take that step in his career.

"I feel I am not ready yet. Right now, I'm in school, I'm enjoying myself, I'm not pushing to go anywhere," he said.

And even after finishing Friday afternoon's game with a career high 187 rushing yards, McCoy reiterated during the post-game press conference that he would be staying at Pitt for another year.

"We still have a lot to accomplish here," McCoy said. "I want to help get Pitt back to the powerhouse Pitt used to be."

The Panthers have not won the Big East since 2004, and McCoy's return next year would make them the favorite to win the title again.

And maybe give the Panthers another Heisman trophy winner.

McCoy and the Panthers will travel to East Hartford this weekend take on Connecticut (7-4, 3-3 Big East) this Saturday at noon.