Freshman Justin Champagnie filled up his stat line Saturday while leading Pitt to a 103-53 victory against the Florence All-Stars in Livorno, Italy.
Champagnie scored 16 points, which would have been good enough for a player fresh from high school. But he also added eight rebounds and two assists and turned around on defense to collect three blocks and two steals.
Pitt was in command from start to finish while winning the second of its first two games in Italy.
Xavier Johnson scored 16 points, followed by McGowens and Ryan Murphy with 15 and Terrell Brown with 14.
The Panthers led, 21-0, to start the game and, 30-7, after 10 minutes. During that run, Champagnie scored eight points and Trey McGowens seven off the bench.
Pitt’s defense ruled the Florence offense, which committed 35 turnovers. On offense, Pitt recorded 19 assists.
Champagnie said the team worked out some of the problems that surfaced Thursday in the 60-55 victory against The Netherlands.
“That was the first time playing together,” Champagnie said. “We didn’t know who could do what. Today, we trusted each other more so we had better ball movement.”
Assistant coach Milan Brown was pleased with the improvement, albeit against an inferior opponent.
“We wanted to make sure we corrected the mistakes we made the first game,” he said. “Coach (Jeff) Capel talked about sharing the baskektball, playing together, playing with more consistent energy. I think we were able to do those things.”
Pitt will leave Florence on Sunday and travel to Venice. The Panthers play the final game of their trip asport 2 p.m. Monday against the Vicenza All-Stars.
