Semi-rapid reaction: Pitt 73, Maryland 59

COLLEGE PARK, Md. -- In a season without one to this point, Pitt picked up something resembling a signature win with a 73-59 win against Maryland that, in the final 30 minutes of action, was rarely in doubt.

The Panthers now get to head back home after serving em in the home of the Terrapins (I know that's a forced reference and that Jay Z was talking about selling drugs and not getting wins, but Pitt rarely plays Maryland. Let me have this moment).

Turning point: An elongated one if there ever was one. Maryland took an early 13-7 lead, but Pitt ended the first half on a 38-11 run that gave it a 45-24 lead at halftime. In that span, the Panthers made 15 of their 21 shots and the Terrapins, after making five of their first six shots, missed 16 of their final 20 field goal attempts of the half. In fact, they missed 17 of their 18 3s from the 11:45 mark of the first half until the 11:49 mark of the second half.

Game ball: A lot of possibilities here, but I'll go with Jamel Artis. A Baltimore native who was never heavily recruited by the Terps -- never receiving as much as a scholarship offer -- Artis scored 22 points, 15 of which came in the first half, with eight of those 15 coming in a critical 55-second span that increased Pitt's lead from six to 14. He said, based on his experiences with Maryland, he played with a chip on his shoulder. It showed, in a good way.

Notable stat: Five, the number of steals Pitt recorded against Maryland. By virtue of being a team that's now primarily playing zone, the Panthers don't force a bunch of turnovers and entering tonight, had the 10th-lowest steal percentage in Division I (getting steals on 4.6 percent of possessions). Against a team with a ball handler like Melo Trimble, getting that many takeaways is impressive. Tuesday, it was equally crucial, as Pitt outscored Maryland in points off turnovers, 18-5.

What it means: I'm always one to caution against over-magnifying wins this early in the season, largely because we don't know how good some of these teams are. Though it's in a different sport, it's how we go from bold declarations of how "Texas is back!" to poor Charlie Strong getting fired within a span of 10 weeks because nobody knew Notre Dame was a pretty crap team that would end up going to go 4-8.

Is Maryland good? There's reason to think so. The Terps probably weren't as good as their 7-0 record since five of those wins came by six points or fewer, but they're still a top-25 squad with one of the country's best guards leading their offense. It's a road win against a good power-conference opponent that, once the NCAA tournament rolls around, could be a nice resume boost for a team that could very well need it given the nuclear absurdity that is its conference this season.

The win further showed how insane and sometimes unstoppable Pitt's offense is when Young and Artis are both scoring. Maybe the most revealing thing came on defense, where the Panthers held Maryland to 34.4 percent shooting while Trimble and Anthony Cowan combined to miss 16 of their 24 shots. Much of that success can be traced to scheme. Kevin Stallings has waffled on his defensive plans as he continues to figure out his personnel, but it's becoming increasingly clear that zone is the best fit for this group, with its notable length and relative lack of speed in the backcourt. Against Maryland, it limited Trimble's driving ability and often forced the Terps to settle for 3s, a fair potion of which were open but just didn't go in. Whether zone will be the best fit for Pitt's future opponents remains to be seen. But based on the roster and how its defense has looked so far, it seems to be the most logical fit.

What's next: The City Game Friday against Duquesne. Anybody who follows Pitt basketball knows of the series' recent history, with the Panthers taking 15 in a row and 25 of the past 27. KenPom gives Pitt an 86 percent chance of winning, with a projected final score of 81-69. Given the Dukes' struggles so far this season, that may be conservative.

Notable quotables: "I've got a lot more to show. I'm ready for the ACC. I don't like how they picked us 12th. This is a great test tonight. I think me and my guys came out and played hard." - Jamel Artis

"Our plan was to take away the 3, take away the drive by being in the gap, getting back in transition as fast as possible because we knew him and Cowan would push the ball up the court. We scouted them and the game plan was to try take away as much away from him as possible." - Mike Young

"I play at home a lot during the year. I get 15, 20-something games at home. He gets one, maybe two close to home. It was big for him. I was really proud of him. He's the reason why we got that lead and got up big. He was the bus driver tonight. I was a bus rider and he just kind of took us." - Young on if he could tell what the game meant to Artis

"A lot, confidence wise. You believe in yourself, you believe in the team and you believe in what you want to accomplish, but when you win a game like this, the first game on the road, we had a lot of close games before this. We went up to New York and lost and won. Just coming here, a true road game with their fans, it was so fun to play in. Winning this game, I think it's going to do a lot for our team. It's a confidence builder, knowing we can beat a really good team." - Young on what the win could mean

"Just having fun. The dunk at the end, I don't know if people would take it as disrespect or anything. I really didn't see how much time was left on the clock. I was just playing and finishing the game out until the end. That's what I'm going to do every game. I was just having fun and interacting with fans. It's a true road game, I'm a senior, this is my last year, this will be my last time playing here and we won. I just wanted to have fun with it." - Young on what prompted his shushing gesture after his late dunk

"Hopefully it's one of those that shows up really well later in the year." - Kevin Stallings on the importance of the win

"When you have prolific scorers, one of the benefits is they can get you a bucket when things are down. One of the drawbacks is sometimes when they try to get that bucket when things are down, they run into traffic or, in the case tonight, Maryland's got some really big guys, so they're walling up on Mike and making it difficult for him." - Stallings on playing too much one-on-one ball in the second half

"We couldn't scare out of our zone. It was doing what we needed it to do. If they made shots, they made shots. But it was doing what we needed it to do because Melo wasn't on top of our rim all night. He wasn't standing at the foul line all night. That's what we needed." - Stallings on Pitt's defense

Craig Meyer: cmeyer@post-gazette.com and Twitter @CraigMeyerPG