PITTSBURGH — Pittsburgh coach Jamie Dixon didn't want his players backing off. Binghamton interim coach Mark Macon didn't want them letting up, either. The Bearcats must grow up in an hurry, and it won't help if any team takes it easy on them.
Ashton Gibbs hit five 3-pointers in the first half as Pittsburgh quickly opened a 22-point lead and the Panthers emptied their bench Tuesday throughout a 71-46 victory over Binghamton, which lost its coach and much of its team during a troublesome offseason.
Highland graduate Gary McGhee started and scored nine points for the Panthers.
Pitt seized leads of 13-6, 22-8 and 31-10, aided by an 18-2 run in which Gibbs made three from beyond the arc. He finished with 22 points.
"I was trying to take advantage of the open shots I got and knock them down," said Gibbs, a sophomore whose previous high was 15 points. "I have enough confidence to keep shooting."
Brad Wanamaker scored 14 and Travon Woodall had 10 points and 13 assists in a game that was much easier than Pitt's 63-60 opening-game win over Wofford on Friday, when the Panthers trailed by 13 in the second half.
"The idea was to play like we practice, and we didn't do that (Friday)," Dixon said. "If anyone's been watching games, teams aren't exactly in midseason form."
Pitt is currently without a healthy starter from last season's 31-5 team, yet the Panthers are far more experienced than the decimated Bearcats (1-1). Their patchwork roster includes five freshmen, six walk-ons, one part-time returning starter and no scorer who averaged more than 4.4 points last season.
The late-afternoon matchup of a big-conference power against a mid-major upstart was booked for TV because it created the possibility of an upset. Any hope for that ended when Binghamton guard Emmanuel "Tiki" Mayben was arrested on cocaine charges two months ago and five other players were kicked off the team, including 2008-09 leading scorer D.J. Rivera.
Coach Kevin Broadus was placed on administrative leave for violating NCAA rules that the school self-reported, and athletic director Joel Thirer resigned. What remains is the shell of the team that won a school-record 23 games last season, with one senior — and he's a walk-on — and little hope of winning more than a handful of games.
The Bearcats struggled in their opener to a 54-49 victory over Division II Bloomsburg, which won only four games last season. Upcoming games against St. Bonaventure, Duquesne and La Salle await Macon's hastily assembled team.
"It was a quantum leap (from Bloomsburg to Pitt), but this is what we want to be," Macon said, referring to Pitt's perennially successful program. "Now, how do we get there? We accept the challenge. I'm glad we got it."
Playing Pitt probably wasn't fair for a team as talent-thinned as the Bearcats, but Macon offered no excuses. Dixon made no effort to play anything but a usual game.
"We played like we play," Dixon said. "They want to get better. He (Macon) knows basketball, and they've got some young talent."
Kyrie Sutton, with 12 points, was the only double-digit scorer for Binghamton, which was outrebounded only 32-26. Nasir Robinson had 10 rebounds for Pitt.
"We're concerned (about the rebounding), for obvious reasons," Dixon said.
The Panthers won their 40th in a row at home against non-conference teams and their 23rd in a row overall there.
Gibbs picked a fitting day to have his best game. Dixon was honored Tuesday as USA Basketball's coach of the year for leading the United States' world championship 19-and-under team, which included Gibbs.
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