PITTSBURGH (93-7 The FAN) — Pitt men’s basketball got its season underway Saturday night with the annual Blue-Gold scrimmage.

Blue beat Gold, 57-49, but more important was several freshmen getting out on the floor for the first time. Malcolm Gilbert, Durand Johnson and Khem Birch made their debuts and each saw significant minutes.

Gilbert, a center, pulled in three rebounds and blocked two shots in 26 minutes of play. Birch, who has spent most of the team’s first practices at power forward, registered eight points, four rebounds and three blocks in 30 minutes.

Johnson played one half on each team and totaled one point and two assists.

The stars of the game were the veterans. Guard Ashton Gibbs led all scorers with 26 points and J.J. Moore wasn’t far behind with 18. Dante Taylor had a double-double with 10 points and 14 rebounds.

Moore also took home the dunk contest title for the second straight year, though he said last year’s dunk was the better of the two.

Players and head coach Jamie Dixon were made available to the media after the scrimmage. Here’s what some of them had to say…

J.J. Moore:

Jamie Dixon:

Khem Birch:

Travon Woodall:

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Chris Gates | Area 4-1-Zoo Blog
Twitter.com/Chris_Gates
Chris.Gates@cbsradio.com