St. Bonaventure and Pitt can be bad at the same time, but they cannot be good at the same time. The Bonnies made the NCAA tournament in 2000 (losing to Kentucky in the first round). This was two years before Pitt started their run of ten straight tournament appearances (2002-2011). St. Bonaventure sucked during that time. The year Pitt fell off the map, St. Bonaventure had the A10 player of the year (current NBA player Andrew Nicholson) and won its conference tournament. They lost to #3 seed FSU in the first round (I refuse to call the play in games the first round). They've sucked since. So, it turns out Pitt's entire fortunes are tied to a bottom-feeder A10 team not named Duquesne.
The Bonnies came into this game at 6-1 but they've played the equivalent of the 3rd best team at your local YMCA so far. This game was ugly. Pitt played its six best players for almost the entire game (Robinson, Wright, Jones, Young, Artis, Newkirk) and they still only beat St. Friggin Bonaventure by four at home. I hope this team figures it out.
Cameron Wright - Wright returned to the starting lineup after making a cameo appearance against Duquesne. He played 21 minutes. Unfortunately, he forgot how to play offense. For one night, he regressed back into the awful offensive force that was freshman Cam Wright. He was 0-4 from the field and made 1-2 free throws for his first point this season. Thankfully, he remembered how to defend and that's where Pitt needs him the most. He intercepted a 3/4 court pass when the Bonnies could have tied the game with 3 seconds left to clinch the win. Wright has a few more games against cupcakes to find his offense in time for the ACC. That was probably the plan all along.
Grade: C
Michael Young - He only shot 3-10 but he made his free throws (8-12 for the game) in the final two minutes to keep Pitt ahead. With Pitt behind 47-44, Newkirk hit a three and Artis found Young for a dunk to put Pitt ahead for good. Young finished with 14 points and an absurd 17 rebounds
Grade A
Chris Jones - He had 11 points and 3 blocks, but nothing really stood out to me. His biggest play was probably finding Newkirk for the game-tying three. Of course that play only happened because Jones bricked a three and Uchebo had the biggest offensive rebound of his life to give Pitt another possession.
Grade: B
Jamel Artis - Artis had 14 points on 5-8 shooting to go with 4 blocks. It was easily his best game this season. This was probably in response to me tweeting in the first half that he had "regressed so far I couldn't even see him anymore." I am clearly a master motivator. Dixon should hire me to give halftime speeches. After an Artis jumper put Pitt up 44-37, the Bonnies went on a 10-0 run to regain the lead. Artis made the aforementioned pass to Young for the dunk, and he made two clutch free throws with 27 seconds left to put Pitt back up by four.
Grade: A
Josh Newkirk - Newkirk was having a decent game for the first 36 minutes. He hit that tying three as part of his 9 point night. Unfortunately with a minute left to play, Newkirk's head fell off. Somehow there is nothing in the NCAA rulebook preventing a player from competing without a working brain, so Newkirk was allowed to stay in. After Artis made those two free throws to put Pitt UP by 4, Newkirk fouled his guy in the backcourt to send them to the line. I repeat, PITT WAS AHEAD BY FOUR. They made both free throws and used only 2 seconds of time on that possession. Then with 5 seconds left Pitt ahead by only three, Newkirk fouled his guy attempting a three. Thankfully, St. Bonaventure sucks and his man only made 2/3 free throws. That was Newkirk's fifth foul so he couldn't try to ruin this game any further with a Nasir Robinson type foul at the end.
Grade: F for Foul
James Robinson - He had 9 points and 4 assists but wasn't noticeable.
Grade: B-
Joseph Uchebo - One of only three reserves to play for Pitt. He didn't score in 7 minutes but he had that monster offensive rebound.
Grade: B
Ryan Luther - He didn't attempt a shot in his 8 minutes.
Grade: C
Cam Johnson was hurt, and Sheldon Jeter must have said something about Dixon's mother so he didn't play either.
Pitt plays the Manhattan Jaspers on Wednesday night. I will miss the game because of a dress rehearsal for my choir's Christmas concert.
Fun Fact: Manhattan College is not located in Manhattan, but rather the Bronx. I'm trying to decide if that makes more or less sense than Josh Newkirk's play in the final minutes.
It might be too close to call.
Hail to Pitt,
J.O.
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