Earlier this month, Pitt's basketball program held their first scrimmage. In that game, shooting guard Cameron Wright had a strong performance, leading his team in scoring with 27 points and hitting the game winner. Pitt held their second Blue-Gold scrimmage this weekend and Wright had a repeat performance.
The guard led the way again with 25 points to help his gold squad to another win. Senior Lamar Patterson also chipped in with 25.
On Wright, not much more to say here. It's old news by now, but after last season, I wondered aloud if Wright would follow Brad Wanamaker's career path. The two had put up eerily similar numbers through their first two seasons before breaking out as juniors and that's really what I think we can see out of Wright this season. A starting shooting guard hasn't been named yet, but I've thought all along that it was his job to lose.
Truth be told, it's only two preseason games. Still, if Wright practices well, it's hard to imagine him not being the starter alongside James Robinson in the backcourt.
Here's the full box score. Key performances included 19 points and 17 rebounds by Talib Zanna, and 17 points from Durand Johnson. True freshmen Mike Young and Jamel Artis, competing for the power forward spot, had a combined 28 points and ten rebounds.
Elsewhere, Joseph Uchebo and Derrick Randall both sat out with injuries again. That's really not good news for Pitt with the season right around the corner. Uchebo, who is still recovering from knee surgery, was anticipated to be out a bit. But with Randall out, too, the depth in the frontcourt is really very thin.
The other big (okay, noteworthy is probably a better word) news was that former coach Ben Howland was in attendance, chatting with Jamie Dixon through the entire game. After he was let go by UCLA this year, Howland became a free man and is still without a job. With the season right around the corner, he's likely going to take the year off before being a candidate for some jobs next year.
Understandably, it's been a bit weird for the former coach this fall:
"Thirty-two straight years without a break," said Howland, who has a career record of 398-205. "I've never had off this time of year. I'm trying to take advantage of it and learn and get better, try to pick things up."
First exhibition game against another team is on Friday when Pitt takes on UC-San Diego.
Be sure to join Cardiac Hill's Facebook page and follow us on Twitter @PittPantherBlog for our regular updates on Pitt athletics. Follow the author and manager/editor of Cardiac Hill @AnsonWhaley
