Pitt can’t keep getting away with comebacks like this, but gosh is it exciting.

This is the expected line-up for the game tonight, and the players expected to come off the bench:

Pitt ——— Position —– Syracuse
Taft ———— C ———- Forth
Troutman —— F ———- Warrick
McCarroll —— F ———- Pace
Graves ——— G ———- McNamara
Krauser ——– G ———- McCroskey
—————BENCH————————
Ramon ———————- Edelin
Kendall ———————- Roberts
Gray ———————— Watkins
DeGroat ——————— Nichols
Benjamin

As far as minutes per game (in conference, as are all numbers used unless otherwise indicated), McNamara and Warrick rarely come out of the game. They are averaging 39 and 37.6 minutes respectively. Additionally, Josh Pace averages 36.3 minutes per game. Barring foul problems or injury, you can expect to see these 3 most of the game.

Billy Edelin is still not starting, but is up to averaging 18 minutes in a game. The last two games he played 26 and 30 minutes, so he can be expected out there more. Daryl Watkins had been limited because of an injury. He should be playing more minutes this game to spell Forth more. Roberts will go in for Pace and Forth, but could lose some now that Watkins is available. Nichols may be lucky to get in there for 5 minutes.

For Pitt, Krauser plays the most minutes at 36, followed by Taft (32) and Troutman (31.8). If Syracuse comes out hitting a lot of jumpers and Pace is able to get rebounds and score, Graves and McCarroll could see their minutes go down. Ramon is already averaging 31.6 minutes off the bench as either the 3rd guard or for Graves. McCarroll also has to contend with Coach Dixon’s recent realization that Kendall is a pretty good defender. Unless McCarroll comes out with more offense than he has shown, Kendall could be inserted fairly early for this game. Gray will be in for Taft and maybe Troutman at points. DeGroat and Benjamin might get 7 minutes combined for McCarroll. If they are in for more, then Troutman got in foul trouble.

Hakim Warrick should be the first order of business for Pitt. Obviously he is going up against Troutman. That should be a great battle. Two very different players that put up comparable numbers.

————– FG-FGA —– Field FG-FGA — FT-FTA —- Reb/gm — A – TO – Blk – Stls
Warrick (7) — 48-91 (.527) — 46-86 (.535) — 43-69 (.623) — 9.0 —- 11 – 13 — 2 — 6
Troutman (5) – 30-54 (.556) — 28-51 (.549) — 14-19 (.737) — 8.2 —– 2 — 6 — 5 — 5

Warrick puts up about 2 more shots per game than Troutman and gets to the free throw line significantly more often (9.9 versus 3.8). Warrick, though, has struggled at the free throw line in road games. He has gone only 20-39 (.512) in the 4 conference road games. Troutman isn’t great in the two home conference games — 5-8 (.625) — but since he doesn’t take nearly as many FTAs, it isn’t as scary a prospect.

McNamara will be the other major focus for Pitt. If he starts hitting early, expect Ramon to be in there for Graves a lot. Graves isn’t as good as keeping the player in front of him. Ramon has shown good speed and better defense. Krauser will probably try to help out if McNamara is showing touch.

For Syracuse, to take the pressure off of McNamara, Edelin and/or McGroskey will need to score on open looks. Pace, Forth and Roberts are all inside players, who generally look for their shots inside. Forth and Roberts, though, tend to have trouble with Fouls. Forth fouled out in 2 of the last 3 games. Roberts fouled out once in conference against Providence.

For Pitt, they have yet to play a complete game in conference. They have played good halfs, but are prone to prolonged lapses in focus — literally for half of a half. This could be very likely if Pitt is unable to bust Syracuse’s 2-3 zone. Syracuse is a veteran, patient team that will likely do what it did last February against Pitt. Collapse inside on Troutman and Taft. Clogging the passing lanes, and force Pitt to make shots from the outside.

So while the Pitt star players, Krauser, Taft and Troutman will be the one the announcers discuss, and the defense will focus attention. The key could be Ronald Ramon. Ramon is Pitt’s best outside shooter and can shoot off of screens and pulling up. He is not yet able to create his own shot, but unlike, Graves, does not need to be firmly set to get his shot to fall. If Ramon can drop a few early baskets it will force Syracuse to extend out further and creating opportunities for Troutman and Taft. Not to mention giving Krauser room to drive and penetrate.

I expect this game will be close. Free throw shooting may end up deciding this game. Pitt holds a slight edge here. Syracuse in conference has a large split on home versus away foul shooting. While converting at a .712 clip at home (47-66), they take a real tumble on the road down to (.570).

Pitt is actually worse at home than on the road shooting free throws in conference. The differences, though, aren’t as significant. At home, Pitt is shooting .636 (28-44), while on the road Pitt is at .697 (46-66).

Plenty of articles today, and they all seem to be about the Orange. Even the Pittsburgh papers get into the act. Wondering if Syracuse is on a “title run.” There are a couple articles on Syracuse players. One on Gerry McNamara being healthy and the fact that he takes a lot of 3 point shots. He has to, he has only a .353 average. Of course it could receive a boost if Pitt doesn’t keep him from getting set and comfortable.

The other puff piece is on Hakim Warrick. A bit of playing up the level of highlight reel material. His match-up with Chevy Troutman should be interesting.

“The thing that makes him so tough is his versatility,” Georgetown coach John Thompson III said of Warrick, a candidate for the Wooden Award, given to the nation’s best player. “If you put a bigger guy on him, he can pull away from the basket and make a mid-range jump shot. And if you put a smaller guy on him, he’ll take him to the hole.”

Thompson added that playing physical defense against Warrick is not always the answer.

“I don’t know if he can be pushed around … you can’t push what you can’t catch,” Thompson said.

Pitt, no doubt, will attempt to bully Warrick by matching him up with the powerful Chevon Troutman, 6-7, 245. Troutman, who is coming off a 29-point, 12-rebound effort in a comeback win at Connecticut, is considered the toughest low-post defender in the Big East.

“When Chevy guards guys, he makes them work,” junior point guard Carl Krauser said. “He throws them off and frustrates them.”

Warrick fully expects to get banged around by Pitt, but that’s nothing new to him. He’s faced the Panthers five times in his career and averages 13.2 points and 6.6 rebounds. He’s had 20, 16 and 17 points the past three meetings, two of which produced victories.

“(Troutman) is definitely going to use his body against me, so I’ll have to use my skills and quickness to get around that,” Warrick said. “I don’t want to get out there and get into a wrestling match with them. I have to play my game.”

Last year, Pitt got Warrick in early foul trouble but failed to take advantage of it when Boeheim left him in the game. I don’t see Warrick getting in foul trouble again, unless he gets frustrated early.

Up in New York, its noted that a win for Syracuse would move them up to #3 in the polls. Syracuse hasn’t been that high in the rankings since the 1990-91 season. The “Pitt looking for revenge,” theme noted yesterday is also repeated.

As for the game itself, there is this scouting report on Pitt.

“…Their frontcourt’s very good. I think that’s their strength. (Chevon) Troutman and (Chris) Taft are phenomenal inside. I think for Pitt to win, those guys have to have the ball.

“(Carl) Krauser’s a strong, tough New York guard. He’s not going to back down. He knocks down big shots. (Ronald) Ramon gives them an elite shooter. They’ve got weapons. Sometimes they get out of sync, and that’s when they’ll go through dry spells.

“Defensively, they’ve played some zone this year, but they’re pretty much a man-to-man team. They like to get after you. They pick up turnovers. They can control the tempo with their defense. They feed off their defensive pressure, and if they get a couple turnovers, it really gets that crowd involved. You have to protect the ball and take good shots, but they make you work every time.”

For Syracuse, they don’t want to fall far behind like they did against Rutgers. Some of this is just Boeheim’s poor-mouthing, but he also knows his team has managed to pull out some close games in the Big East.

Pittsburgh grabs an average of 14 offensive boards a game. Syracuse gives up an average of 13 offensive rebounds.

“We’ve got to do a better job on the boards,” Boeheim said. “We’re giving up too many second shots lately, and that’s going to catch up to you sooner or later.”

So will free-throw shooting. The Orange has made enough to win 13 straight games, but its 7-for-15 second-half performance against Rutgers nearly cost them the comeback.

And SU can ill afford to give away points in a tight affair with Pittsburgh, or any other Big East game for that matter.

“In our league, we’ve struggled every game, practically,” Boeheim said. “So we know every game is going to be a struggle. “We know we’ve got to raise our level of play.”

The same can be said for Pitt.

A couple basic scouting reports from the papers.

Other items:

The MSNBC College Basketball Editor thinks talk this early about teams like Pitt not making the Tourney is bunk. If you want to worry about seeding, that’s different.

Dante Milligan, the Pitt player who has decided to transfer, has found his spot — UMass. He will be eligible to begin play in the second semester of next season.