With the Christmas break on the horizon, Pitt enjoyed a bit of a breather Friday night while taking advantage of another opportunity to sharpen its skills ahead of an ACC schedule that doesn’t offer many breaks.

Pitt coach Jeff Capel saw some things to like in a 79-53 rout of Binghamton at Petersen Events Center, defense being at the top of the list.

“We did a good job defensively,” Capel said, pointing to the 27 turnovers forced by the Panthers. “In the first half, we had some great closeouts. One of our big things was to run them off the 3-point line. We did a really good job of doing that. They still got up 30 3’s, but the quality of them weren’t very good.”

Freshman guard Justin Champagnie posted his second double-double, scoring 14 points and grabbing 10 rebounds to lead Pitt (9-3). Trey McGowens added 13 points, Ryan Murphy chipped in 11 and Au’Diese Toney 10 for the Panthers, who are idle until Canisius visits the Pete on Dec. 30.

Pitt, which so far is 1-1 against a pair of ACC opponents, then welcomes Wake Forest on Jan. 4 for the start of a steady diet of conference games.

“I don’t know what my expectations were,” Capel said. “I don’t know if I went into it thinking at Christmas I want to be this. I want to be undefeated, so I didn’t have a number because I never think about us losing.”

Pitt had no trouble dispatching Binghamton (5-7) for its second victory in a row and seventh in the past eight games. The Panthers led the Bearcats by 20 at halftime (41-21) and outscored Binghamton in the second half, 38-29.

Binghamton shot 39.3% (22 for 56) but was just 8 for 30 (26.7%) from behind the arc. Pitt, meanwhile shot 44.1% (30 for 68), including 36.8% (7 for 19) from 3.

“We’ve been pretty good all year, defensively,” Capel said. “Teams are shooting under 40% (39) against us, and we’ve turned teams over quite a bit (16.1 per game). Where we can take a jump is we have to defensive rebound better. That’s big because if we do that and take away second shots … usually second shots lead to something easy for them because it’s a broken play, whether it leads to a basket right there or a wide-open 3-pointer.”

Pitt managed to edge Binghamton on the boards, 39-38, but was outdone on the defensive end, 23-22.

It hardly mattered, though.

As it did in the first half, Binghamton started the second on a hot streak, outscoring Pitt, 7-2. But the Panthers, as they did in the first half, rallied for a comfortable lead and continued to pull away.

As it did in the first half, Pitt held Binghamton without a point for a long stretch, this time a period of 4 minutes, 38 seconds, while building a 30-point lead (65-35), when Murphy swished a 3-pointer for the Panthers.

“We just started off a little slow,” Toney said. “We had to pick it up on the defensive end to put us back in rhythm. (Capel) has been preaching about defense, to slide your feet, be on the help side. Steals will get us into transition. We like to play that way.”

A 14-0 run sent Pitt to a 37-15 lead as the first-half clock wound down. Pitt held Binghamton scoreless for 5:07 until Sam Sessions’ 3-pointer ended the Bearcats drought.

Sessions, the America East Conference Rookie of the Year as a freshman last season, notched a career-high 40 points on Dec. 7 in an 84-79 overtime victory over Boston. He entered Friday’s game leading the Bearcats in scoring (19.0 average).

His team-leading 23 points against Pitt weren’t nearly enough to carry Binghamton.

“The number that jumps out is 27 turnovers. That was the game story,” Binghamton coach Tommy Dempsey said. “I was disappointed with our inablilty to take care of the ball. We could’ve made it a much more competitive game had we not thrown the ball away like we did. Give them credit. They’ve got great length and athleticism, and they’re committed on the defensive end.

“We’re not a team that turns it over a ton. That was an uncharacteristic performance. That 27 is just too big a number. You’ll never win a game that way.”

Binghamton jumped in front early, scoring the game’s first five points and leading 7-2 at the 15:03 mark, before Pitt got going.

But when it did, Binghamton was in trouble.

A pair of McGowens 3-pointers preceded Xavier Johnson’s layup, giving Pitt a 10-9 lead, and the Panthers never trailed again.

“I like where we are, but we still have a ways to go,” Capel said. “It’s exciting to me. We haven’t hit a ceiling yet and, hopefully, we can attack this and continue to get better.”

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