Steven Adams pulled down a career-high 14 rebounds, including 9 offensive, and also added 8 points on 4-of-9 shooting in Pittsburgh’s 66-45 win over Duquesne on Thursday.

The Panthers coaching staff has been working with Adams to improve his rebounding, stressing positioning and using two hands to grab the ball.

"Nothing changed overnight," head coach Jaime Dixon said. "He's had some very good rebounding days. He did a good job numbers-wise. I can't explain why all of a sudden he did. As a team, we rebounded better. I think everyone else blocking out was a part of it. It was better, but still not where we need to be."

Adams still struggles to convert offensive rebounds into points -- at least in comparison to former Panthers center DeJuan Blair.

"DeJuan got better at it,” Dixon said. “Let's remember DeJuan wasn't an all-Big East guy going into his sophomore year. He was not a highly ranked guy coming out of high school. It's development and getting better. I think we'll see the same with Steve. Steve is 7 foot. Those guys get ranked higher ... he's doing a great job."