Worrel Clahar had one of his best games of the season on the afternoon his college career was celebrated.
Saturday was Senior Day, and although Pittsburgh beat DePaul 81-66 at the Allstate Arena, Clahar’s inspired play kept the Demons in a game they had little chance of winning.
“From the day I got here,” said Clahar, “I wanted to be remembered here at DePaul.”
Clahar and fellow senior Stuart Pirri were honored in a brief ceremony before the game, each receiving a framed blue DePaul uniform with their name and number on the back. Both players were flanked by their families, teammates, cheerleaders, coaches and other members of the athletic department.
On the court, Clahar played well in both halves. He scored 12 points in the first half on 5-of-7 shooting. Then, with DePaul holding on and trying to erase a double digit margin, Clahar repeatedly drove the lane and either made difficult layups or drew fouls.
The guard finished with 19 points, which tied a season high, and he got a round of applause from the DePaul crowd when he fouled out with two minutes left.
“Clahar’s a tough kid,” said Pitt coach Jamie Dixon. “He obviously showed up for Senior Day in a big way. He’s a tough kid, an unselfish kid, he really plays hard.”
Alas, Clahar alone could not eke out a win. Pittsburgh played like the No. 20 team in the nation. They crushed DePaul offensively.
The Panthers scored 38 points in the paint. DePaul struggled guarding their big men, Dante Taylor and Steven Adams, but Pitt also earned great looks from a balanced attack. Panther guards would create space with a quick first step, draw a DePaul big man, and pass to an open player at the rim. The Panthers also utilized the pick-and-roll offense, and got out on the fast break (14 points in transition).
The ball movement led to 21 Pitt assists, and they set a school record by shooting 71.7 percent from the field. The visitors got 40 points from their bench.
“They got 10 players,” said DePaul head coach Oliver Purnell. “They got 10 guys that they play 15 minutes or better. It’s not like they can go to their bench and there’s going to be a drop off. They have tremendous balance. They’re not a team where you can focus on one guy.”
As for the Demons, Young led the team with 22 points on 6-of-16 shooting (8-of-8 from the line). Young, though, was forced to take a number of tough shots. Pitt, particularly Durand Johnson, played very hard defense on him, not allowing Young to get to the basket off the dribble.
Elsewhere on DePaul, Cleveland Melvin had a quiet game, scoring 12 points. Jamee Crockett scored 10. Due in part to Pitt’s shooting proficiencies, the Demons only got 12 rebounds. No player had more than two.
J.J. Moore led Pitt with 21 points, including five three-pointers. After making his last one to give the Panthers a 13-point lead 12 minutes left, Moore got a technical for taunting. Guard Tray Woodall had 18 points of his own, with seven rebounds. Woodall and Clahar guarded each other, and there’s history between them.
“We’re both from Brooklyn, so we had a couple battles before,” said Clahar. “Coming up in the playground we battled. College basketball we battled. It’s just a battling situation. We both go home, we got the same friends. Talk smack when we get back home. That’s all it was.”
Perhaps exemplifying the Demons’ afternoon was this sequence before the end of the first half: With time running out, Young uncorked a running jumper from the opposing free throw line. The shot, a line drive, was perfect. Unfortunately for Young, Clahar and the Demons, the shot came well after the buzzer.
The effort went for naught, and DePaul finished one win shy of equaling last year’s total.