Pittsburgh routs DePaul on senior day, end Blue Demons'chances of making Big East tournament

Now that’s a proper sendoff for your seniors!

Pittsburgh celebrated in style, smashing DePaul 98-79, and squashing the Blue Demons’ bid for the 12 th and final spot in the Big East tournament. The Panthers started the game on a 13-3 run, and that was about all she wrote from there. Six players scored in double figures for Pittsburgh, who never trailed from beginning to end in the regular season finale.

DeJuan Blair flexed his freshman muscles, leading Pittsburgh with 22 points and 14 rebounds. Sam Young finished with 19 points, and Gilbert Brown contributed 13. The Pittsburgh seniors were not left out of the scoring barrage, either. Seniors Keith Benjamin and Ronald Ramon had 12 and 11 points respectively, while fellow senior Levance Fields nearly turned in a triple-double with 10 points, nine rebounds and nine assists.

Freshman Dar Tucker led DePaul with 23 points, and Draelon Burns added 18 for the Blue Demons, who tried to fight off the Panthers in the first half. DePaul used an 11-2 run to pull even at 27, but the Panthers answered right back with an 8-0 of their own. Pittsburgh shot 56 percent from the field, while pounding DePaul on the glass, outrebounding the Blue Demons 46-27.

On this afternoon, a quartet of sevens became wild for Pittsburgh. By defeating DePaul, Pittsburgh became the seventh team in the Big East to win at least 10 games this season. The Panthers will draw the No.7 seed when the Big East tournament opens on Wednesday. This marks the seventh consecutive year that Pittsburgh has registered at least 10 wins in conference play, and the Panthers are almost certain to make the NCAA Tournament for the seventh straight year. Pittsburgh finished 22-9 overall, and 10-8 in Big East play. The Panthers are feeling good about themselves heading into the Big East tournament, winning three of their final four games to close out the regular season.

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The loss eliminates DePaul from Big East tournament contention, and the final spot in the Big East tournament will go to Providence. The Blue Demons were a pleasant surprise in the Big East early on, starting 4-2 in the Big East. But for DePaul, it’s wasn’t how they started, but how the Blue Demons finished their Big East slate; DePaul lost 10 of their final 12 games against Big East opponents.

by Frank Minniti
BigEast-fans.com Director of Content

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