Gibbs Is Back, Panthers Are Poised

Ashton Gibbs returned to the lineup for the Pittsburgh Panthers on Saturday and while the team still lost in his return following a three-game absence, there was plenty of encouraging signs in the defeat.

College basketball fans know that Gibbs is one of the key constituents to a deep run in the NCAA Tournament and the fact that he picked up right where he left off has quelled a few anxieties of Panthers fans.

Knee injuries are sometimes tricky as they can linger, effect explosiveness and hamper elevation. For Gibbs, none of those symptoms were visible on Saturday as he notched 26 points in his return versus St. John’s.

As expected, the Panthers had problems scoring with Gibbs out of the lineup. He scored 24 and 25 in the two games prior to his injury, and averaged 16.3 per game on the season. The team averaged 76.2 points per game with him in the lineup but that figure dropped down to 65 points per game during his absence.

With him in the lineup, college basketball experts have to really start to consider the Panthers to be the team to beat in the NCAA Tournament.

While that may sound somewhat obvious considering we are talking about a high-ranked team, but look at some of the facts and where they rank in the conference in each category (through February 20^th):

Scoring offense: No. 4

Scoring defense: No. 2

Scoring margin: No. 1

Field goal percentage: No. 3

Field goal percentage defense: No. 4

3-point percentage: No. 1

Rebounding offense: No. 1

Rebounding defense: No. 1

Rebounding margin: No. 1

Assists: No. 1

Assist-turnover margin: No. 2

Offensive rebounds: No. 1

Defensive rebounds: No. 4

And we’re not talking about just any conference; we’re talking about the Big East, which is the best in the business.

The Panthers are very much for real and they could be significantly more for real than some of the other teams at the top of the food chain. While Kansas and Texas seem to be vulnerable on the road, the Panthers loss at Madison Square Garden to the Johnnies was their first road loss of the season.

With Gibbs back, this team could be poised not only for a run in March Madness but a Championship run.