PITTSBURGH—It took almost a month but Pitt finally won a Big East game by beating visiting Providence 86-74 at the Petersen Events Center Wednesday night.
“There’s no secret what’s occurred this season but we can’t control the past,” Pitt head coach Jamie Dixon said. “Obviously, we wanted to have a better record at this point but we had to go through some things and [this win] was just good to see.”
Dixon credited Travon Woodall as being a key to the win as the starting point guard returned the last game after missing almost two months. Woodall scored 17 points and dished nine assists.
“Our players have confidence in [Woodall] when he’s on the floor,” Dixon said. “If you ask any team if they play better with their [starting] point guard on the floor I think you would have a consensus.”
Woodall felt the players ran the offense well and contributed to an overall team effort in the win.
“My teammates got open so that made it easy for me to get assists,” Woodall said. “It was great to get a win under our belt, but we have a short-term memory. We’re only worried about the next game.”
He was joined in double-figures by Ashton Gibbs who scored 22 and Nasir Robinson who added 14. Lamar Patterson pulled down 11 rebounds.
“I was feeling it. Once the first one shot went in, it gave me confidence for the rest of the shots,” Gibbs said. “Travon [Woodall] found me a lot and my teammates did a great job setting screens. It feels really good [to get a win] but we need to hold our heads high and move on.”
Providence was led by Vincent Council who scored 26 points. Friars head coach Ed Cooley also felt Woodall’s play hurt his team’s effort along with his team’s defensive lapses at times.
“They’re a totally different team with Woodall. Everybody’s in their roles, everybody’s in their comfort zone,” Cooley said. “To say our defense took a step back tonight was an understatement. We sprinted backwards.”
The Panthers (12-9, 1-7 Big East) pulled away for a 46-31 halftime lead and led by double digits throughout most of the second half but never buried the Friars (12-9, 1-7 Big East). They return to action Saturday by hosting Georgetown.
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