National Basketball Association
BOXSCORE | RECAP
Pittsburgh 71, Florida Gulf Coast 54
When: 7:30 PM ET, Tuesday, December 30, 2014
Where: Petersen Events Center, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Officials: # Bill Covington, # John Gaffney, # Michael Stephens
Attendance: 10249

Pittsburgh 71, Florida Gulf Coast 54: Michael Young scored a game-high 16 points and grabbed six rebounds as the host Panthers cruised to their sixth straight win.

Cameron Wright finished with 15 points and six rebounds and James Robinson added 12 points for Pittsburgh (10-3). It was the 30th straight home win against nonconference opponents for the Panthers and also their 200th all-time win at the Petersen Events Center.

Julian DeBose scored 12 points and Brett Comer finished with 10 points and five assists for FGCU (9-5), which dropped its third straight game. Bernard Thompson and Eric Moeller each finished with nine points for the Eagles, who turned the ball over 16 times and were outscored 38-26 in the paint.

Robinson scored five points as Pitt started the game on a 7-0 run, and Jamel Artis' 3-pointer with a little less than four minutes left gave Pitt its biggest first-half lead at 30-17. Thompson's 3-pointer capped a 7-3 run to end the half as FGCU closed to within 33-24 at the break.

FGCU twice cut the deficit to seven points early in the second half, the final time on Thompson's jumper with 15 minutes to go. Pittsburgh connected on nine straight field goals while boosting its lead to 17 points, 62-45, and the Eagles never got closer than 14 the rest of the way.

GAME NOTEBOOK: Pittsburgh improved to 117-3 all-time versus nonconference opponents in the Petersen Events Center. ... FGCU was without starting guard Jamail Jones who was serving the fourth of a six-game suspension for a violation of team rules. ... Pitt opens ACC play on Saturday at North Carolina State.
Top Game Performances
 
Florida Gulf Coast   Pittsburgh
Julian DeBose 12 Scoring Michael Young 16
Brett Comer 5 Assists Chris Jones 4
Bernard Thompson 6 Rebounds Cameron Wright 6
Eric Moeller 3 Free Throws Made Jamel Artis 2
Brett Comer 1 Steals James Robinson 3
Julian DeBose 2 Blocks Sheldon Jeter 1
Team Stats Summary
 
Team Points FG% 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA Assists Rebounds Blocks Steals Turnovers
Florida Gulf Coast 54 46.0 1-7 7-8 11 21 3 3 16
Pittsburgh 71 53.8 4-12 11-17 19 23 3 8 10