Through the first two games of the season, a fast start had eluded Pitt, which still managed to beat Youngstown State and Longwood despite uneven efforts.

But by the end of Monday’s contest at Petersen Events Center, a 78-66 triumph over Eastern Michigan, coach Jeff Capel could preach to his players the benefits of getting off on the right foot.

Pitt (3-0) led by double digits less than seven minutes in, enjoyed a 22-4 run before halftime and kept the Eagles at arm’s length for the vast majority of the game, as the Eagles (1-1) came within 10 points only briefly in the final half of play.

“We got off to a good start tonight,” Capel said. “I thought we did some really good stuff early, and we built an 18-point lead. … We kept them out of our paint. Our ball screen defense was a lot better. We rebounded the basketball. We shared it and were able to get out in transition.”

Cam Corhen led the Panthers with 16 points on 7-of-11 shooting, while Omari Witherspoon chipped in 15, followed by Damarco Minor (12) and Roman Siulepa (11). Indrusaitis, who started in place of an injured Brandin Cummings, scored nine.

As a team, Pitt shot 50% (30 of 60) from the floor, including 6 of 18 (33.3%) from deep. It was a rough night from the charity stripe, as the Panthers hit only 12 of 23 (52.2%) of their attempts.

The Eagles were led by Carlos Hart, who dropped 19.

Pitt was ahead 10-6 about five minutes into the game, with Witherspoon and Siulepa hitting early 3-pointers.

With 12:50 left in the first half, Pitt was up 16-6 thanks to an 11-0 run over the Eagles, who were held scoreless for more than four minutes.

Following the under-12 media timeout and two free throws by Barry Dunning Jr., the Panthers led 23-10.

Just over a minute later, it was 27-10 Pitt, as Indrusaitis hit a layup and Siulepa threw down a dunk on the fast break.

The Panthers took a lead as large as 18 with about six minutes to go, but Eastern Michigan drained a few 3-pointers to narrow the gap.

With 3:15 remaining in the opening half, Pitt was leading 39-29, as the Eagles manufactured a bit of momentum.

For Capel, that stretch of play detracted from Pitt’s solid start.

“We built a lead,” Capel said. “We just have to do a better job of sustaining it. … I liked some of the stuff that we did, but overall, I don’t like how we played. I know that our schedule’s going to get tougher, starting on Thursday (at West Virginia) and we have to be better.”

Pitt went into the locker room with a 45-32 halftime lead.

Siulepa (11 points), Indrusaitis (9) and Corhen (8) were the Panthers’ scoring leaders through 20 minutes of play.

After Eastern Michigan’s Mohammad Habhab responded with two shots from the foul line, Pitt led 48-38 with 17:16 remaining.

About 30 seconds later, Minor drilled a 3-pointer as the shot clock expired and was fouled in the process.

His free throw put Pitt back ahead by 14 at 52-38.

The Panthers maintained their comfortable lead as the midway point of the second half approached.

With 11:38 to go, Pitt led 59-45 after a second-chance dunk by Corhen on a feed from Minor sent both teams into the under-12 media timeout.

The Panthers dominated near the rim Monday, scoring 44 points in the paint to Eastern Michigan’s 28.

“We weren’t doing anything out of the ordinary,” Siulepa said. “We were just following the game plan, getting the ball inside and trying to finish.”

Over the ensuing minutes, Pitt was unable to completely put the game out of reach, but the Eagles couldn’t buy a shot from the floor, instead sustaining themselves with a handful of foul shots.

With just over eight minutes to play, a Jon Sanders 3-pointer made it an 11-point game, trimming Pitt’s lead to 65-54.

At the 6:48 mark, Dunning hit a 3-pointer and like Minor earlier, was fouled on the attempt.

Dunning missed the free throw, but the Panthers still built a 69-56 advantage.

For the remainder of the game, Eastern Michigan did not come within 10 points of the Panthers.

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