FanHouse

Pitt dismantled Oklahoma State 85-68 today as Pitt's freshman star DeJuan Blair completely outplayed the Cowboy's star freshman James Anderson. Blair had 20 points on 80% shooting, 10 rebounds and 5 blocks. Anderson came in averaging over 20 points a game but was held to 8 points on only 2-8 shooting, 2 rebounds and 1 assist.

Every Pitt starter finished in double digits and controlled the game almost the entire time. While much of the attention was deservedly on Blair performance and Sam Young doing his solid job at both ends of the court, the game reinforced the player that really is the key for Pitt -- Point Guard Levance Fields.

Fields controlled Pitt's game, speeding it up when needed and slowing things down when things got too ragged. The only sustained run by the Cowboys in the second half to draw the 18 point deficit down to 7 came while Fields was sitting early in the second half after getting his third foul.
With Fields out, the Pitt offense stagnated and slowed too far as Pitt struggled to find a good shot. Oklahoma State was able to put pressure on Pitt and run set plays on offense to narrow the deficit. Once Fields returned, though, the Cowboys couldn't contain Pitt's offense and the tempo picked up and the young Cowboys returned to their first half form of just throwing up shots hoping they would fall.

As for Oklahoma State, the loss brings their road record to 0-14 in true road games. They haven't won a road game since mid-February of 2006. Sean Sutton is a promising young coach, and a good recruiter. He has continued to struggle to get his team to stay focused and execute a gameplan on the road. All too often, the team disintegrates into a group of individuals looking for their own shot and not helping on defense. Against Pitt, that was very obviously on display.