NCAA tournament: No. 3 Pittsburgh routs No. 14 Oakland, 89-66
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Jermaine Dixon and Gilbert Brown scored 17 points apiece, and Pittsburgh avoided becoming the latest Big East powerhouse to get knocked off in the first round of the NCAA tournament, overcoming a slow start to rout Oakland, 89-66, on Friday in the West Regional at Milwaukee.
Brown’s strong performance off the bench was a boost for the third-seeded Panthers (25-8), who are making their ninth straight NCAA appearance and have advanced to the round of 16 in five of the previous eight. They’ll try to continue that streak Sunday against No. 6-seeded Xavier, which defeated 11th-seeded Minnesota, 65-54, earlier Friday.
Center Keith Benson scored 28 points for the 14th-seeded Golden Grizzlies (26-9), who played much of the first half without starting forward Derick Nelson after an elbow from Panthers center Gary McGhee opened a cut over his left eye.
-- Associated Press
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