PITTSBURGH -- Pittsburgh was supposed to win. The Panthers were playing at home.
Julius Page scored 14 points in only 18 minutes Wednesday night and No. 18 Pittsburgh, which scored the game's first 12 points, rolled to a 79-51 victory over Chicago State.
The Panthers (9-0) extended their home winning streak to a school-record 29 straight games. They have not lost in 23 games in the Petersen Events Center which opened at the beginning of last season.
"Our job is go to out and bury teams, especially at home," Pitt guard Carl Krauser said. "We're serious, all business on the court and that shows in our record. But it's nice to be able to laugh a little, too, and we were able to enjoy ourselves in this game."
Chicago State (1-8) has lost 39 straight road games and 27 in a row overall against Division I opponents.
Krauser and Yuri Demetris each added 10 points for Pitt, which had 12 players score and no starter go more than 21 minutes.
Tony Weeden had 13 of his 14 points in the second half for Chicago State, which shot 31 percent from the field (15-of-48).
"I told our guys that if we win the (Mid-Continent Conference) tournament, we're going to the NCAAs as a No. 16 seed and this is the type of team we're going to be playing and the type of atmosphere we're going to be facing," Chicago State coach Kevin Jones said. "You can't be shellshocked in this kind of situation but that's what we were, at least early."
Krauser capped the game-opening run with a 3-pointer, steal and layup. Chicago State got within 15-6 on a 3 by Rubeen Perry with 14:35 left, but Pitt scored the next eight points, including a three-point play and tip-in by Chris Taft.
Pitt had an 11-0 run later in the half and led 50-18 at halftime.
"Pitt is just so big and strong and that really shows on the defensive end," Jones said.
Jamie Dixon became the first coach in any sport at Pitt to win his first nine games.
"At the end of game, guys were talking about who was going to be lifting weights tomorrow," Dixon said. "We'd like to think we spend as much as time in the weight room as any team in the country.
"I like where we're at right now. I think we're playing pretty well."
The game was part of a loosely configured exempt event called the Pittsburgh Holiday Hoops Tournament. The tournament, which also includes Florida State, Murray State, Wagner and Georgetown (Ky.), winds up with tripleheaders Saturday and Monday.
The Panthers received a bit of a scare Monday night, beating Georgetown, an NAIA school, 79-74.
"We knew we needed to come back strong after that game," Page said. "It was a tough game and we kind of took it easy in practice (Tuesday) and just mainly shot around. I think that helped because our shooting was really good."
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