No. 5 Panthers latest team to rout Demons

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Big East history has been written by Connecticut, Syracuse, Georgetown and Villanova, the conference’s traditional powers.

But Pittsburgh has the conference’s best overall record since 2001.

The Panthers have a 246-65 record and .791 winning percentage to rank among the nation’s top five. With their 80-50 victory Saturday against DePaul at Allstate Arena, the No. 5 Panthers (7-0, 19-1) also notched another milestone — their largest victory margin in a Big East road game.

The win kept the Panthers atop the Big East and saddled the Blue Demons with consecutive 30-point losses. They’re still without a conference victory at 0-7 and are 6-13 overall.

‘‘They’re so deep and physical, and they have a number of guys who can take over a game for stretches, especially their perimeter players,’’ DePaul coach Oliver Purnell said. ‘‘And [forward] Gilbert Brown was a handful for us.’’

Brown, a 6-6 senior, led all scorers with 17 points, and 6-11 senior center Gary McGhee grabbed a career-best 15 rebounds, his third consecutive game with at least 10 boards. Senior guard Brad Wanamaker had nine of Pittsburgh’s 18 assists on 28 baskets.

The overmatched Demons made the game close for a time in the second half.

But after DePaul senior Mike Stovall capped a 10-1 run with 13:35 left to close the deficit to 42-35, Panthers coach Jamie Dixon called a timeout to regroup his team. Pittsburgh closed the game by outscoring DePaul 38-15 for its ninth consecutive conference victory dating to last season.

‘‘College basketball is a game of runs, and DePaul had a run, but we kept our composure,’’ Wanamaker said.

The Panthers’ defense shut down freshman Cleveland Melvin, whose 11 points were his fewest since Dec. 14. The 6-8 forward had scored at least 20 points in six of his last seven games.

‘‘We tried to stay in gaps because we knew he was a driver,’’ Brown said. ‘‘DePaul really suffered with him not being able to contribute like he has.’’

Melvin still led the Demons in scoring. Sophomore Tony Freeland added eight points off the bench, and junior Krys Faber had eight points and seven rebounds.

‘‘They were trying to take me out of my game by being physical with me,’’ Melvin said. ‘‘I know there will be games like this. I just have to keep my head in the game and be more physical.’’

Dixon pointed to Melvin as the kind of player who will the Demons rebuild.

‘‘He’s a guy a lot of us recruited, and his numbers are amazing,’’ Dixon said. ‘‘He’s a guy to build around, and I know coach Purnell has a few good ones to build on. They’re young but getting better, and we know how good they’ll be down the road.’’