The 17-pooint point spread may have seen a bit high, but after a sluggish shooting (and at times defending) first 25 minutes Pitt put the Bulls in the ground. At the end of the week this will be viewed as another blowout win.
Aside from Victor Rudd, there doesn’t seem to be much to this USF team. Not sure what happened to the Anthony Collins that killed Pitt in two games last year, but I’m rather sure that wasn’t the same Anthony Collins. It also doesn’t hurt that outside of the same Rudd, there are no USF players that like to go inside to get rebounds. It’s something sad when you can shoot 6-23, yet only manage 3 offensive rebounds. Not surprisingly USF had no second chance points in the game.
The two big storylines post-game was Coach Dixon letting the players “freelance.”
The Panthers shot just 27 percent in the first half, and Dixon decided to change things on offense after the Bulls took their lead.
Dixon instructed his players to freelance instead of calling his set plays from the bench. The switch proved to be effective as the Panthers scored 38 points after halftime to pull away from the last-place Bulls.
“It was just, ‘Play basketball,’ ” Dixon said of his message to his players. “It was more of a freelance-type thing. Just getting ball moved from one side to the other. I just wanted them to play basketball. I don’t know if they felt confident in that initially.
“They saw the results and felt better about it. I thought we were too stationary and too easy to guard. It’s something we have done and can use going forward.”
Woodall said it was the first time Dixon gave his players freedom all season. Woodall said the previous time Dixon gave his players carte blanche was four years ago when he was a freshman.
Dixon disputed that, but it was clear the change helped the Panthers Wednesday night.
“Guys settled down and settled in,” Woodall said. “Coach let us go play. We just went out and played how we do in practice.
Apparently they needed that. It also says something about how confident Dixon was that Pitt could ultimately handle USF.
