Nov 20, 2001

Final Stats

PITTSBURGH (AP) - Robert Morris and the University of Pittsburgh met on a basketball court for the 21st time Tuesday night and the Colonials are still looking for their first victory against the Panthers.

Led by guard Brandin Knight's 26 points, Pittsburgh (3-0) pulled away from cross-town Robert Morris in the final 12 minutes and cruised to an 86-62 non-conference victory.

The victory spoiled the head coaching debut of Robert Morris' Mark Schmidt. An assistant at Xavier the past seven seasons, Schmidt replaced Danny Nee at Robert Morris after Nee left to coach another Pittsburgh team, Duquesne.

Robert Morris, a member of the Northeast Conference, fell behind 21-7 in the first 10 minutes. At that point it looked as if Pitt, which is 51-0 against Northeast Conference opponents, would run away and hide.

But the Colonials, led by Tyler Bacon's 16 points, crept back into the contest and trailed just 30-24 with 2:28 left in the first half.

Pittsburgh appeared to take control of the game for good by scoring the final five points of the half and the first four of the second to take a 39-24 lead. But Robert Morris (0-1) managed to stay within striking distance, trailing 49-42 with 12:05 left to play.

That's when guard Julius Page jump-started the Panthers. Twice he scored on drives to the basket and was fouled on the second converting a 3-point play. That sparked a 12-5 run by the Panthers who held a 61-46 lead following a three-point play by Knight at 8:36.

Robert Morris never got closer than 14 points after that.