Duke has a roster of 5 star basketball studs. Pitt has largely a roster of 3 star players. In sum, the 5 stars will win a vast majority of the time over the 3 stars and not need much luck or help from the refs.
That was the case tonight as Duke shot a blistering 52% (13 for 25) from behind the arc and sank Pitt 80-65 in front of record crowd 12,944 at the Pederson Events Center in Pittsburgh. Duke’s superior talent was the difference in the game and it showed.
The Blue Devils trailed early in the contest but showed no signs of panic. They slowly and methodically grabbed the lead from Pitt and never looked back.
Duke was led by freshman phenom forward Jabari Parker, who scored 21 points (7-19 from the floor) and had help from reserve guard Andre Dawkins, who added 20 points (7-9 from the floor including a blistering 6-7 from downtown) to seal the win.
Pitt fought hard and made several runs at Duke to close within 2 half by the score of 34-32.
The Panthers were once again led by winger Lamar Patterson, who had a rather below-average night of 14 points on just 4-14 shooting. Pitt also received contributions from Talib Zanna (11 points), James Robinson (10 points including 5 assists) and freshman Jamel Artis (8 points including 2-3 from behind the arc).
But Duke’s 5-star athleticism just took over in the second half as the Blue Devils outscored the Panthers 46-33 down the stretch to win the ball game. Duke forwards Amile Jefferson (14 points) and Rodney Hood (13 points) were among the weapons Pitt simply couldn’t stop.
Duke proved to be among the ACC’s elite programs while Pitt now finds itself sitting in the second tier following the loss.
Pitt has a chance to redeem itself next Sunday at home vs Virgina at 12:30pm EST.
However for now, the bigger showdown takes place Saturday night when Duke visits Syracuse for first place in the ACC.