No. 15 Pitt tops No. 5 Georgetown

The Panthers have been able to rebound after losing two starters.

ASSOCIATED PRESS

PITTSBURGH — A few days after Pitt lost starters Levance Fields and Mike Cook to injuries last month, coach Jamie Dixon delivered a simple message to his nine healthy scholarship players.

Namely, he would allow no excuses the rest of the season, nor would he set any limitations for those who remained.

Maybe he should have added this, too: Not many losses were permitted, either.

Ronald Ramon and Keith Benjamin, playing new roles because of the injuries, both scored 18 points and the 15th-ranked Panthers surprised No. 5 Georgetown 69-60 on Monday night.

The Panthers (15-2, 3-1 Big East), their season seemingly in peril when starters Levance Fields and Mike Cook were hurt a game apart in late December, are 4-1 with Ramon at point guard in place of Fields and have stretched their home court winning streak to 13 games.

“Maybe we had fewer players, but I didn’t hear anybody talking about getting ready for next season,” Dixon said. “We knew we still had to get better, we still had to get stuff done.”

Freshman DeJuan Blair did that in this game despite giving up 7 inches to Georgetown star center Roy Hibbert by getting 15 points and nine rebounds. In two games against teams that were ranked in the top 10 at the time, Duke and Georgetown, Blair has 30 points and 29 rebounds.

Jonathan Wallace had 14 points for Georgetown (13-2, 3-1).

No. 3 Kansas 85, Oklahoma 55.

LAWRENCE, Kan. — Darnell Jackson had 17 points and Brandon Rush added 16 as No. 3 Kansas remained unbeatenwith a rout of short-handed Oklahoma.

Darrell Arthur had 14 points and Mario Chalmers added 13 for the Jayhawks (17-0, 2-0 Big 12), who have won 31 of their last 32 games and are off to their best start since the 1996-97 team began 22-0.

Women

COLLEGE PARK, Md. — Maryland’s seniors already know how it feels to win the NCAA championship. Now, finally, they know what it’s like to beat Duke at home.

Marissa Coleman scored a career-high tying 30 points, and No. 4 Maryland pulled away to an 85-70 victory over the 10th-ranked Blue Devils before 15,531 fans, the fifth-largest crowd in Atlantic Coast Conference history.

The Terrapins (20-1, 4-0) had lost nine straight at home against Duke (13-4, 2-1), including a 69-57 decision last season before a sellout crowd.

“We wanted to end this streak,” senior guard Laura Harper said. “It was important to us. We can smile right now.”

The game was a rematch of the 2006 national championship game, which Maryland won in overtime. The stakes weren’t as high this time, but that didn’t blunt the pleasure the Terrapins derived from beating their conference rivals.

“We had extra motivation. We wanted to send our seniors out with a win over Duke at home,” Coleman said.