As you can imagine, shooting 12-19 on 3s and pretty well everywhere else will end up being the focal point of the local stories on Pitt beating Cinci.

Playing a Bearcats team that ranks 296th in the nation in 3-point shooting, the Panthers (18-3, 6-1 Big East) got more accurate the farther they were from the basket. They shot a season-best 63.2 percent from 3-point range, and 60.5 overall (23 for 38). No opponent in the 17-year-old history of the Fifth Third Arena has ever enjoyed a better shooting night.

“The shooting was great,” Pitt coach Jamie Dixon said. “It was good to see.”

Pitt had wide open looks and converted.

“The shooting percentage is because of Aaron,” said Ramon, who had 10 points. “We were getting open shots because of the way he moved the ball. We were getting great looks because of the way we pass the ball.”

…

“The shooting was great, but it started from the passing, as always,” Dixon said. “The decision-making was good.”

Things were going so well that even Sam Young got into the act. Young, who hadn’t scored in five games but had 10 against the Bearcats, made a 3-pointer with 5:04 remaining to give Pitt its biggest lead of the half, 32-18.

“It was great execution,” said Fields, who was two shy of the school’s 3-pointer record shared by Andre Aldridge and Jason Maile. “We knew they were going to double the post. Everyone was making the extra pass.”

The view from the Cinci papers was that while the team has made some nice comebacks from deep deficits, but not this time.

There would be no comeback on this night because the Panthers, who start three seniors and a junior, were too experienced to allow one. Pitt walked away with a fairly easy 67-51 victory before 9,196 fans.

“Being down 12 to Pitt is not the same as being down 12 to most people,” said UC coach Mick Cronin. “Being down 12 to Pitt is like being down 25 to a normal team. This is a team that’s not going to blow 12-point leads. They’re just too experienced.”

Coach Dixon still had praise for Cinci and Mick Cronin this season.

“To come up with this kind of talent and competitors is amazing,” said Dixon. “Because I’ve been recruiting in April, and it’s basically impossible to get players this good. Nobody got players that good in April. And he’s done a heck of a job with this group.

“Nobody in the country has this many first-year guys playing this kind of minutes. To be able to do the things they do with new guys is amazing.”

So Cinci can at least have hope.

I guess part of the reason Cinci rarely abandoned the doubling of Gray — even as they were getting pounded with 3s — was conserving depth and fouls. Leave a player inside against Gray and he could have muscled in easily and drawn a lot of fouls. Now, granted, the way Gray has been streaky (at best) with his FT shooting that may not seem like a bad strategy. The problem was Cinci couldn’t spare the bodies to follow a “hack-a-Gray.” At least that’s what I’m guessing since no one appeared to ask about that.