Piscataway, NJ (My Sportsbook) - Sam Young scored a team-high 18 points in a balanced scoring attack, and the third-ranked Pittsburgh Panthers used a late burst to defeat the Rutgers Scarlet Knights, 78-72.
Brad Wanamaker had 15 points, five rebounds and four assists in the win for Pittsburgh (13-0, 1-0 Big East), who had been idle for the past 10 days but remained unbeaten. Gilbert Brown and Levance Fields each had 11 points in the win for Pitt.
Mike Rosario had 22 points to lead Rutgers (9-5, 0-1), which has lost two straight after a four-game win streak. Anthony Farmer contributed 20 points, while Corey Chandler had 17 points and eight rebounds in the loss.
Chandler's three early in the second half gave Rutgers a 46-39 lead, but Pittsburgh responded with a 10-2 run to take a 49-48 edge on Young's layup with 14:30 to play.
The Scarlet Knights scored the next five points to go up by four and led 55-50 with 10 minutes to play. The Panthers took control of the game, though, with a 20-4 run that left Rutgers trailing by 11.
Wanamaker's layup with 8:33 left gave Pitt a 57-55 lead, and Wanamaker added back-to-back three-pointers to make it 68-59 with 4:19 to play.
Tyrell Biggs capped the run with a layup 1 1/2 minutes later. Rutgers would cut the deficit to five late, but Pittsburgh made its free throws down the stretch to secure the victory.
Rutgers jumped out to an early 13-8 advantage on Rosario's jumper just under five minutes into the game. The Scarlet Knights went up 22-16 on a fast break layup by Rosario, but Pitt responded with an 11-0 run.
Fields' layup with eight minutes left in the half put the Panthers up 27-22, but Rutgers fought back to take a 34-31 lead on Rosario's jumper with 4 1/2 minutes to go. The Scarlet Knights took a 43-39 lead into the break after Farmer's jumper with 30 seconds left.
Game Notes
Pitt leads the all-time series, 24-20, inluding nine of the last 10...Biggs contributed six points and 10 rebounds for Pittsburgh, while Jermaine Dixon had 10 points...The Panthers shot 49.2 percent from the field, while Rutgers shot 41.3 percent.
