Pitt 86, IUP 60

PITTSBURGH (AP) - DeJuan Blair missed only one shot while scoring 27 points and getting 18 rebounds and No. 6 Pittsburgh scored the first 20 points before easing to an 86-60 victory over NCAA Division II opponent Indiana, Pa., on Saturday.

The 6-foot-7 DeJuan Blair was too strong and mobile inside for the undersized Crimson Hawks (2-1) and had 20 points and 16 points as Pitt led 45-17 at halftime. Blair, who made 13 of 14 shots and his only free throw, was lifted with the Panthers (4-0) ahead 54-21 with 14:33 remaining after he scored three consecutive baskets.

Blair had a similar dominating stretch while Pittsburgh closed the first half with a 21-2 run, scoring five consecutive baskets - four on putbacks. Several times, the 265-pound Blair grabbed a rebound at the defensive end, set up along the blocks, then tapped in or followed up a teammate's miss.

The game wasn't in doubt after Pitt needed slightly more than six minutes to seize a 20-0 lead over an opponent whose only previous games were wins over Thiel and Penn State-Fayette. IUP didn't score until Julian Sanders hit a 3-pointer with 13:28 remaining in the half.

That basket started a 13-2 run by IUP that made it 22-13 and forced Pitt coach Jamie Dixon to keep his starters in the game until early in the second half. Blair played only 20 minutes and no starter played longer than 24 minutes.

Levance Fields' 3-pointer began the 21-2 run that gave Pitt a 45-17 halftime lead and, except for a Jermaine Dixon 3-pointer, the physical Blair scored six of the Panthers' next seven baskets.

Tyrell Biggs and freshman Ashton Gibbs scored 10 each for Pitt, and Ashton Smith had 16 for IUP, which shot only 33.3 percent (21-of-63) to Pitt's 51.5 percent (34-of-66).

Jamie Dixon emptied his bench after that as Pitt won at home for the 100th time in 110 games since opening the Petersen Events Center six years ago. Pitt is 60-1 and has won its last 32 games against non-conference opponents in the on-campus arena, losing only to Bucknell in January 2005.

The game was part of the Legends Classic, a 12-team tournament being held at eight sites with a predetermined bracket in which Pitt, Texas Tech, Mississippi State and Washington State were guaranteed of appearing in next weekend's semifinals. Pitt plays Texas Tech on Friday night.

Pitt couldn't find a Division I opponent to round out its bracket, forcing it to play a non-major college team for the first time since it defeated Georgetown, Ky., an NAIA team, 79-74 in December 2003 - a game the Panthers came close to losing.

Indiana, Pa., 0-9 against Pitt although the schools hadn't played in 22 years until Saturday, is a Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference school located about 60 miles east of Pittsburgh. Former Pitt assistant Joe Lombardi is the Hawks' coach.