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PITTSBURGH — It was about 8:15 p.m. Monday, Nov. 17, that reality came crashing down on the Miami University basketball team.

This reality came in the form of the sixth-ranked Pittsburgh Panthers, who opened the second half with a 26-6 run and went on to scorch the RedHawks 82-53 at Petersen Events Center.

Miami (1-2 overall, 1-0 against teams not ranked in the top six) had come close to taking No. 4 UCLA to overtime four days earlier, but this time there was to be no near-upset.

The RedHawks had trailed at halftime by only five, 35-30, despite spotting Pitt nine points in the opening minutes.

"I thought, boy, if we could just get a basket (to start the second half)," Miami coach Charlie Coles said. "We took a shot that wasn't what we wanted, and then things went crazy and we never got it back. We bowed our heads a little bit."

Senior guard Levance Fields was one of five Panthers to score in double figures, finishing with 12 points and a career-high 12 assists, including eight in the second half.

Jermaine Dixon and Sam Young each added 14 points for Pitt, which improved to 2-0.

"I don't think we took a bad shot in the second half," Pitt coach Jamie Dixon said after his team drilled 63 percent of its shots over the final 20 minutes (18-for-28).

"They sort of wore us down," Miami senior forward-center Tyler Dierkers said, "and in the second half they only took good shots, they had a lot of movement and sort of broke our defense down."

Miami was led by Kenny Hayes with 18 points, five rebounds and four assists, and Dierkers, who totaled 12 points, five rebounds and four steals.

Senior Michael Bramos, however, was not a factor. He went 0-for-6 in field goal attempts and finished with only two points, one rebound, no assists, one block and no steals in 22 minutes of playing time.

"We were very fortunate Bramos got into foul trouble (with two fouls in the first half)," Dixon said. "That was a key. I think it took him out of his rhythm a little bit. The two fouls helped. But we also did a good job on him ... I really saw us step it up defensively in a lot of ways."

Pitt sophomore forward DeJuan Blair, who had 10 points and nine rebounds, said rebounding also was a big difference in the halves.

"In the first half they actually out-rebounded us," Blair said, "and we try to out-rebound our opponents by 10. After halftime we came out and responded. We were angry. We weren't playing the way we should have in the first half."

Pitt out-rebounded Miami 23-11 in the second half.