Panthers defense ready for another hot hand
When Marshon Brooks was a freshman, he came off the bench to lead Providence in scoring with 15 points in a game against Pitt at Petersen Events Center. Pitt coach Jamie Dixon recently called it Brooks' "coming-out party."
From Dixon's perspective, perhaps. Brooks went on to average a mere 3.3 points per game that season. The coming-out party on a national stage has come this season.
Now a senior, Brooks is averaging 23.1 points per game for the Friars, who play host to No. 5 Pitt tonight at the Dunkin Donuts Center. Brooks never averaged more than 14 points a game in his first three seasons, but he has led the Friars in scoring in their past nine games and 12 of 15 overall.
A 6-foot-5 guard/forward, Brooks has scored 25 or more points in eight games and is ranked among the top 10 scorers in Division I.
"He's one of those relentless scorers," Dixon said. "He scores on offensive rebounds. He can shoot from [3-point range]. They play him at [three positions], and they try to exploit matchup situations. ... He has a knack whether it is in transition, or getting an offensive rebound or getting a bigger guy guarding him and taking advantage of that."
The task of defending Brooks comes eight days after the Panthers faced Connecticut junior Kemba Walker, the Big East Conference's top scorer at 26.7 points per game. Walker scored 31 points against the Panthers, but he needed to take 27 shots to get those points in a 78-63 Pitt victory.
Dixon had several players take turns guarding Walker and they received good help on defense when Walker beat his defender one on one. Brooks enters the game as the conference's second-leading scorer, and the Panthers believe they will need a similar defensive concept if they are going to limit Brooks.
"I think we really have to have a great team defensive effort," said senior forward Gilbert Brown, who is likely to start the game guarding Brooks. "We really established something against UConn and playing well together on defense. We held them to 33 percent, and we also had Kemba shoot 10 for 27.
"That was a great game for us defensively. It was a full team effort. We had [different] guys guarding him and other guys helping in the lane. We have to do that as well when we play Providence and face [Brooks]."
Like Walker, Brooks takes a lot of shots to get his points. Walker and Brooks each average slightly more than 17 shot attempts per game. Brooks took 22 shots in Providence's loss at Syracuse. He took 23 in a loss at Boston College and 21 in a victory against Brown.
"They have similarities," senior guard Brad Wanamaker said. "They're both constantly attacking you on offense. We're going to try to make him work on the defensive end, try to get into him and try to wear him out, try to do what we did to Walker. We want to make him take a lot of tough shots and make him put up a lot of shots to get his points."
Providence coach Keno Davis has built his team around a wide-open offensive concept since taking over as head coach before the 2008-09 season. The Friars led the Big East in scoring last season, but they also were the worst defensive team in the league.
The Friars allowed 82.4 points per game, which statistically ranks as the second-worst points-per-game average for a team in the history of the Big East. Davis has tweaked his system this season, and the Friars are showing signs of being a little bit more responsible at the defensive end.
They are still among the top-five scoring teams in the league, but the approach is not the same run-and-gun system that led to the embarrassing 11-game losing streak at the end of last season.
"It's something they've emphasized," Dixon said. "They're not pressing as much. I think they're also trying to limit their turnovers so they're not giving up transition baskets. Those are the things they've focused on and why their numbers are a little better."
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# Pitt: Has not played since a Dec. 27 victory against Connecticut. ... Playing its first road game of the season. ... Has won 13 of past 19 away from home. ... Junior G Ashton Gibbs (16.8 ppg) has scored 20 or more points in five games this season, including a 21-point game against Connecticut. ... Senior G Brad Wanamaker (13.0 ppg) has scored in double figures in three of the past four games. ... Senior F Gilbert Brown (10.9 ppg) is 23 for 43 from the field in the past four games.
# Providence: Coming off 67-65 loss to St. John's. ... Other conference loss came at Syracuse. ... Senior F Marshon Brooks (23.1 ppg) scored 20 points in the loss to St. John's. ... Sophomore C Bilal Dixon is second in the Big East in rebounding (9.1 rpg). ... Sophomore G Vincent Council is first in the conference in assists per game (6.8 apg).
# Hidden stat: Pitt owns the best road winning percentage in the Big East over the past nine seasons. The Panthers are 46-30 on the road in that span, including a 5-4 record last season.
