I don’t know what you can say. Pitt played a great game. They made Craig Smith have to work for everything. Jared Dudley was completely taken out of his game on offense, and BC had no one else come even remotely close to stepping up.

Coach Dixon surprised me with the way he went on the defensive match-ups. Not having Troutman go after Smith was very effective — that fell to Taft. Troutman on Doornekamp meant he could also help step out a bit to give McCarroll, Kendall and DeGroat a little extra help on Dudley. It allowed one of those forwards to play tighter on Dudley, because even if he started to make a move past Troutman was waiting.

In a way, BC was the best tonic for Pitt. They are a team that Pitt can match-up with quite well. They are an inside team. They — like Pitt last year — lack consistent, reliable perimeter threats. This allowed Pitt’s D to stay at home and clog the passing lanes inside.

On the offense, Pitt kept getting the ball inside. Pitt only attempted 12 3-pointers for the game. Graves seemed to be finding his touch as he had all day to shoot open 3s. BC was more concerned about Krauser and Ramon shooting deep. Graves also showed a willingness to take it inside more. If he can learn to finish on his penetration…

The box score shows a Pitt basketball team we haven’t seen for a few weeks. Five players scored in double digits, but no one had more than 13 points. Pitt completely controlled the glass. Outrebounding BC 49-27.

Let’s just go to Player Evaluations:
Taft — At first, I thought he was going to be invisible in this game. In the first few minutes he looked out of position on defense and seemed unaware of where he was in relation to the basket on offense. Dixon pulled him less than 5 minutes into the game. I don’t know if he would have gotten back in 4 or 5 minutes later if Gray hadn’t picked up 2 fouls quickly. Something worked though. Taft started playing a much tougher defense and looked like he wanted to get the ball on rebounds or to shoot. He ended up with 12 points (6-10), 8 rebounds, 2 assists and 2 blocks.

Troutman — Early in the game, it looked like it was going to be an ugly game in the 50s. At about the 9:30 mark, Troutman scored to make it 11-9. Troutman scored 8 of Pitt’s first 16 points when no one else could score. As the rest of the team started scoring, Troutman let them and concentrated more on defense. He made the inside a miserable place for any BC player to be. Most of what he did in this game would not appear in a box score. His line was 11 points (5-9), 7 rebounds and a block.

Krauser — He hounded guys on the perimeter tonight. He led the way in getting this team to play defense first. He wasn’t shooting great, but he was getting to the line. Half his points came at the line. He got the whole team involved and played the full 40. If basketball had secondary assists (passes to the guy who passed to the guy for the score) Krauser would have had at least 6. Finished the game with 10 points, 7 rebounds, 7 assists and 4 turnovers.

Graves — There were times, when he just couldn’t seem to believe how open he was being left. BC was more worried about anyone but him shooting it appeared. He started slow in the game going only 1-4 shooting in the first half. But in the second half he was 4-9 including 2 straight wide open 3s late to put this game out of reach. Those were important because Pitt completely stomped on BC’s throat where they had collapsed in the previous couple of games. 13 points, 5 rebounds and 1 steal.

DeGroat — Here I was wondering about Benjamin getting some more playing time with the guards struggling. Instead, Coach Dixon went mostly with 2 guards this game and brought in DeGroat. DeGroat got a rebound/putback that he slammed home late in the first half that was his first points and rebound of the game. It seemed to give him some real confidence to go to the basket. And in the second half, good things kept happening when he did. He fielded 2 airballs and a shot that banked but missed the rim and put them all back for points. He showed some solid defense that was not there earlier. It just seems that he is finally grasping the defense, and now the offense can come. He was 4-5 shooting in the second half. 10 points (5-8), 7 rebounds (5 offensive) and 2 assists.

McCarroll — I’m so happy he made some free throws. He was 3-4 on those. Prior to that he was 4-25 on the season. He made that first one less than 3 minutes into the game and it appeared to boost his overall confidence. He played with some energy and almost joy that hadn’t been seen from him all year. 5 points, 2 assists and 2 blocks.
Ramon — Definitely wary about taking a shot. Played great defense primarily. BC was very aware of his potential 3-point shooting, and drained his only attempt. He and Krauser helped neutralize the chance of perimeter shooting from the BC guards.

Kendall — Got all his playing time in the first half. Not necessarily for doing anything wrong, but because DeGroat was playing better. Kendall did miss an easy lay-in but still got 4 points and 2 rebounds in 9 minutes.

Gray — When Taft came out in the first half, Gray helped contain Smith and pulled down 3 rebounds in that stretch. Gray sank both his free throw attempts in the second half. For the game Gray had 4 points and 4 rebounds in 12 minutes.

More tomorrow. See how fast the BC bandwagon empties.

Once more, Pitt owns BC.

Back later. Gloating in comments, please.

Well the Preliminary NCAA Academic Report has been released with the sounds of doom and gloom.

Here’s the NCAA Academic Reform Info page.You’re supposed to be able to access individual program’s info here, but it was giving me “404” error pages when I tried to check Pitt and some other schools. Hopefully it will be working soon.

Don’t know how Pitt will look in this early report — especially football and basketball.

Now that Pitt has to be concerned about this, Ken Pomeroy does the work for me. He breaks down the 4 BE teams that still have work to do to make the NCAA. Quite logical and with only some math.

The way the refs call this game will be a big issue. Both teams like to bang and bump inside. Both teams like to get the ball inside. If the refs call this tight, the game could be ugly from the perspective of flow as the fouls mount. If they let them play, it could be “ugly” from an aesthetic sense, but would be a good tough game.

The best match-up should be between Chevon Troutman and Craig Smith. Both like to bang and bump inside for position. Both are about the same size, but Smith actually has about 10 pounds on Troutman. Both get to the free throw line about the same amount and make at nearly the same rate. Troutman is a better shooter in terms of percentage, but Smith has a higher scoring average and shoots more than Troutman. Ultimately, these two could cancel each other out.

Chris Taft should have an advantage on Nate Doornekamp. Taft is 2 inches shorter, but the same weight. Doorenkamp is in there for defense, and is actually a good passer for a big man. He also shoots free throws at 66.7% rate. Taft should have an advantage on him on offense, so it is likely Doornekamp may get some help at times to force Taft to pass. Doornekamp is one of two seniors on this team. Jermaine Watson is a guard and their 6th man. The seniors at BC have never beaten Pitt. Did I mention this is Senior Night at the Conte Forum?

The biggest match-up headache for Pitt will be Forward, Jared Dudley. Dudley would be my pick for player of the year in the BE, but he likely won’t because of Smith on his own team splitting off votes and a possible anti-BC bias by the coaches voting. Dudley is an inside-out player like Pittsnogle, Gay and Sumpter. (My hands just went clammy typing that, and I think 4 more hairs fell onto the keyboard –and like Pitt I can’t afford those kind of losses.) Levon Kendall will have to play some very, very good defense and avoid the foul trouble he had against Gay. Graves and McCarroll will be torched by this guy. Dudley is a very emotional player, and if he doesn’t get some calls going his way, he can be taken out of his game. The problem is, when he steps out for a 3 and if it goes he is right back into things.

As for Pitt, take your pick on which is the bigger problem right now — bad perimeter defense or bad guard play/shooting. Today it seems the bad shooting by the guards is the topic.

Pitt, which led the Big East in 3-point shooting for most of the season, is seriously struggling from behind the arc.

During the three-game losing slide, Pitt is shooting 23.9 percent from 3-point range (11 for 46). The Panthers shot a season-low 18 percent (4 for 22) in Saturday’s 73-64 loss to Connecticut.

The guards are just plain struggling. If it continues early, I don’t see how or why Benjamin isn’t at least given a bit of time out there.

The fact is, Pitt is getting desperate and needs to play with some urgency. Not panic, but with intensity and determination for 40 minutes. Coach Dixon may be trying to ease the mind of some of the players or the fans, but no one believes it right now.

Coach Jamie Dixon and senior forward Chevon Troutman offered diametrically opposing views in assessing the current state of the Pitt basketball team, which is riding a three-game losing streak for the first time in four years.

Dixon stopped short of downplaying the recent swoon, while Troutman clearly suggested that things are getting shaky for the 18th-ranked Panthers (18-7, 8-6 Big East), who face No. 3 Boston College (23-2, 11-2) tonight at Conte Forum in Chestnut Hill, Mass.

“I don’t like that word or phrase,” Dixon said, when it was suggested that the Panthers are facing a sense of urgency. “We want to play better than we did (in Saturday’s 73-64 home loss to Connecticut). Now, we have to come together in all areas against Boston College.”

Troutman’s spin was much different.

“There is a sense of urgency,” he said, matter of factly. “We have to finish out the rest of these games. We have to do it any way possible.”

I hate to call this a must win, but it is. Not necessarily for the sake of making the NCAA Tourney, but for the team’s psyche. Even a top team like Kansas just had a 3 game slide, losing 2 of 3 at home, but they just pulled it back together and ended it against Oklahoma State — one of the best teams out there.

Pitt needs to go out there tonight and show its mental fortitude as well as its ability.

BC has won 19 straight home games dating back to last year. The last home loss was on February 14, 2003 against Providence, 61-52. They are in the top-10 and look to be a #2 or possibly even a #1 seed in the NCAA Tournament. This is a hot team. In fact the last time they were this hot and a big deal, was in January 2002.

Boston College at the beginning of that January was ranked #11 in the country, led by Troy Bell. They had won 25 straight home games.

An unranked Pitt team came to town on January 5, 2002. The previous March, in the Big East Tournament, BC finished a depleted and exhausted Panther team in the championship game, 79-57.

Pitt won the game 77-74. A huge win for Pitt. The following week, Pitt was ranked (#23 in the AP, #25 in the Coaches) for the first time since December 28, 1998. Pitt hasn’t been missing from the rankings too much since.

Tune in to ESPN Classic on Monday at 1pm to see this game with Brandin Knight, Ontario Lett, Danatas Zavackas, Jaron Brown and Julius Page. Will there be a similar story that night?

Here’s another reason to be saddened that BC is leaving the Big East. They are actually one of the few teams in the BE against whom Pitt has a historic winning record. Pitt has a 28-17 record in the series (23-12 since joining the BE). It is Pitt’s best record overall versus any BE foe — helped in large part by winning 9 of the last 10 meetings.

Anyways, Game Notes for the match-up are out from Pitt (PDF). The game is on ESPN at 7 pm. Sean McDonough, Bill Raftery and Jay Bilas will be calling the game. The game is a sellout.

The main storylines are well known. BC is looking to wrap up the BE regular season championship in its final season in the BE, not to mention a #1 seed in the NCAA Tournament. Pitt is staggering to the end of the season. Losing 3 straight for the first time since 2001. Pitt may actually be out of the top-25 tomorrow for the first time in 60 polls. Pitt is in desperate need of a win.

First a word about the booing of Dixon during the honoring of McCarroll and Troutman after the game. I wasn’t exactly thrilled with Dixon’s coaching job in this game either, but there is no excuse to unload on Dixon at that point. That was about 2 Seniors who have represented Pitt very well. 2 players who have helped raise the basketball program to national respectability. Guys who have already earned their degrees. That was classless and tasteless and no amount of frustration and emotion excuses the booing.

Losing 3 in a row is bad. Losing 2 of those 3 on your home court is worse. Losing all 3 because Pitt couldn’t score or make a stop at the end is what makes each so much more devastating than the last.

Pitt struggled in the closing minutes for the second consecutive game. After getting outscored, 28-10, over the final nine-plus minutes of Wednesday’s loss to West Virginia, the Panthers watched Connecticut score 11 of the final 12 points yesterday.

The Panthers did not make a field goal in the final four minutes, missed their last four shots from the field, three of four free-throw attempts and committed a turnover.

“Down the stretch is what’s killing us,” Troutman said. “We have to find a way of correcting that. We know we can do it. It’s just a matter of doing it.”

Part of it might be remembering to get the ball inside and finishing on offense. This excuse from Krauser holds no water.

“I don’t want to say that we don’t have guys who know how to win,” point guard Carl Krauser said. “But we have young guys who don’t know how to close out games. Once you become a leader, you close out games. We have a young team. We have to keep talking to them about closing out big games.”

That excuse holds no water in the last week of February. Not when Pitt has closed out the games. That just makes no sense.

Part of the problem is that in the closing minutes no one but Troutman or Krauser seems to be able to put the ball through the basket.

To be sure, the Panthers have ample opportunity to right their ship, but the UConn loss reinforced the fact that Pitt is struggling to finish off games. The Panthers failed to hold a one-point lead with 4:01 left in yesterday’s game, which occurred one game after they squandered a 14-point second-half advantage against WVU. What’s more, they are lacking in scoring options outside of Troutman and point guard Carl Krauser (21 points, seven assists, two turnovers).

No other Panthers player scored more than seven points. That fact prompted Dixon, who rarely puts a negative spin on things, to proclaim that Krauser and Troutman can’t do it all.

“We need scoring from different guys,” said Dixon, whose team went 4 of 22 from 3-point range and made just 9-of-31 shots (29 percent) in the second half.

The Panthers also need scoring at crunch time. Case-in-point: After Krauser’s runner through the lane gave them a 63-62 lead at the 4:01 mark, they missed their final four field-goal attempts and allowed UConn to go on a game-clinching 8-0 run. Against WVU, they failed to convert a field goal in the final 7:27 and scored just four of the game’s final 22 points.

Troutman did not help the cause by going 8 of 14 from the free-throw line, including 3 for 7 in the final 5:44. Pitt went 6 of 16 from the line in the second half.

Not that others won’t take the shots, they are just not sinking them. And even Krauser and Troutman are struggling at the end as teams just key on them.

There were 47 fouls called in the game. It seems that Jim Calhoun showed why he is going to be a hall of fame coach (he should have been last year) when he got called for a technical.

“I wanted to establish the territory of how the game was going to be called,” Calhoun said. “If we were going to allow shooters not to be protected and moving screens to continue to occur, the best way to do it is to get a technical many times. Let them know what the deal is, we’re not going to accept that.

“I apologized to Tom. What I said to him, he should have given me a technical foul.”

The technical gave UConn five teams fouls to Pitt’s two. But seven of the next nine foul calls went against the Panthers. What proceeded was a whistle-fest during which the officials kept a close eye on everything, mitigating the way the Panthers normally play.

A total of 47 fouls were called in the game with Pitt getting 24 of them. UConn went to the free-throw line 30 times and Pitt 29 times. Six players wound up with four fouls.

Oddly, the most physical Pitt player, forward Chevon Troutman, made it through the game without a foul. Regardless, Calhoun’s outburst had the desired effect. Neither team was allowed much leeway with its physical play.

“The calls helped tremendously,” UConn point guard Marcus Williams said.

In know way is it an excuse or am I complaining about it. It is just an illustration as to why Jim Calhoun is such a good, smart, experienced coach. Calhoun may publicly question or rip his own players in the media at times, but on the court they know he has their back. He’s the guy they will follow.

For the UConn perspective it was about a team that has just gotten better as the season continued and this game was a reflection of the steady improvement. Now the UConn team believes it can make a deep run in March. UConn got solid play from Gay who benefited from Kendall’s foul problems leading to clear mismatches against him.

The freshman forward was a key part of the Huskies’ second-half plan because Pittsburgh couldn’t find anyone to guard him.

“Every time [Antonio] Graves played somebody, we wanted to go there,” UConn coach Jim Calhoun said. “The same thing with [Mark] McCarroll.”

Graves was too small to guard Gay; McCarroll was too slow.

And Kendall had 4 fouls in only 12 minutes.

This has become a rivalry. I’m not saying that to puff up Pitt’s profile. I’m saying that based on what the UConn players said and did. The UConn players took great pleasure in the win.

Starting with pre-game warm-ups, the Pitt student section screamed vulgar comments at the Huskies, so UConn took extra satisfaction sending them home disappointed.

“I don’t typical say this but we were just hearing from the crowd all night long,” Boone said. “This is probably the worst crowd as far as being just plain old vicious. That’s all I can use to describe it. They were just vicious and relentless.

“Every time you go near them they were yelling something at you, so it was a little bit of motivation. Then when you look up at the scoreboard at the end of the game and see you’re on top, it’s really satisfying.

“Also, when we walked off the court and through the tunnel we noticed that there really wasn’t anybody saying anything then. That’s a really good feeling.”

There is nothing for the crowd to say. Scoreboard is the final arbiter. Huskie players freely admitted they enjoyed seeing the Oakland Zoo silenced.

Denham Brown scanned the emptying arena, which had resembled a blast furnace for two hours, and could not contain himself.

The man they call “Frown” smiled wide, which should tell you everything you need to know about how much this game meant to UConn.

“I saw the crowd leaving with about two minutes left,” Brown said. “I’ve never seen that here before. I thought ‘Wow, this is really over.'”

The Huskies lived with their collapse against Pittsburgh in Storrs for more than a month but exorcised it Saturday with a bone-crunching, second-half performance.

This game – like this rivalry – was an uneasy mix of admiration, animosity and great basketball, and the Huskies won it because they were the tougher team when it mattered most.

Heck some players were giving it back to the Pitt players as well.

Marcus Williams looked up at the scoreboard, looked down at the Connecticut scrawled across his chest and, geez, he couldn’t resist.

He pulled a Krauser.

He pulled the national flag blue fabric from his chest, elevated the school name for Pittsburgh guard Carl Krauser to see. He kept it up for all the Panthers, heck for all 12,508 crazies at Petersen Events Center to examine, too.

That’s Krauser’s trademark. That’s what Krauser pulled at Gampel Pavilion last month when the Huskies’ knees buckled and they fell apart in the second half. When you get beat and beat up you don’t easily forget, and that’s why Josh Boone scribbled the date and score of the loss to Pitt on his Nikes before this game.

The winners get that right.

So where does that leave Pitt? In a difficult position of winning at least 1 of their next 2 games. Both road games. Both very good opponents. Both NCAA bound. I don’t want to say Pitt is on the bubble yet, because they can win and get in. It’s just that no one expected they’d be in a position of must wins. The NY Times sums it up.

Pittsburgh Coach Jamie Dixon’s hands locked behind his neck as he shook his head in disbelief.

Dixon’s eyes wandered to the rafters of the Petersen Events Center, his body language saying what he would not allow himself to.

After losing to No. 17 Connecticut on Saturday, 73-64, the 18th-ranked Panthers have dropped three consecutive games for the first time since 2001. A daunting schedule remains, as the Panthers (18-7, 8-6 Big East) must travel to Boston College on Monday and Notre Dame next Saturday to close the regular season.

Dixon’s frustrations had diverse roots. The Panthers scored 1 point in the game’s final four minutes, missed 10 second-half free throws and endured an erratically officiated game in which 47 fouls were called.

With their hopes for participating in the N.C.A.A. tournament suddenly in peril, the Panthers find themselves in an unfamiliar position.

Frustration is the big thing right now.

Ron Cook turns his ire on Chris Taft. Much like his previous whack shot at Krauser, it is ostensibly about the team failure, but then he spends most of the column singling out one player. Don’t hide it. Don’t pretend you are not looking to single one player out in your little preamble. Just come out and say it. The criticisms are valid, even if I don’t fully agree. I would criticize Taft more for taking himself out of the game with 2 dumb fouls. That was a major reason why he couldn’t be aggressive underneath. And maybe I missed something, but I didn’t see any Pitt player getting the ball inside much in the second half. Pitt took over half their shots outside the paint in the second half. That is definitely not where Taft should be or you want to see him.

Final column is an attempt at optimism from Joe Starkey to try and talk the bandwagon jumpers back from the ledge.

It’s the varying inconsistency that drives me wild. Remember early in the BE season. The problem was that Pitt would come out playing poorly then have to mount a frenetic comeback. I mean that’s what they had to do the first time against UConn and Syracuse. Now, Pitt plays a solid, even dominating first half and can’t finish. No explanation for either. And that’s what I would like — an explanation.

My advice, drink heavily. I’m married with a small child. I have no life of my own. If you’re reading this on a Saturday night without those excuses, just turn off the computer and do something else.

This comes directly from my notes during the game. I wrote this during the half:

40 minutes. Pitt has to keep it up. They can’t collapse when UConn makes their run — and they will. Both teams have made them at this point. They will in the second half. Pitt has to be ready to answer. No panic.

Unfortunately, Pitt didn’t listen. Pitt let themselves be taken right out of their game, with barely a whimper. This was all about the second half.

I don’t know, maybe it was the rim on one side. UConn shot under 40% at the one end and nearly 60% at the other. Pitt shot 50% at the “good” rim and 29% at the “bad” one. No, I don’t buy it either.

Here’s a question. In the first half, Pitt was 1-7 shooting 3s. What in the name of Sean Miller makes anyone think it is a good idea to then hoist 15 3-point attempts in the second half? Answer: No one was thinking. Pitt started settling for the deep shots when UConn made the halftime adjustment to really collapse inside — to defend and block the inside pass. Pitt stopped trying to work it inside.

And where the hell was Coach Dixon? In the second half he seemed to forget he was the coach. Pitt only used 2 timeouts for the entire second half — both 30 second ones. I mean, UConn goes on a 8-2 run to tie the game and nothing. Instead he waits for the media timeout after UConn scores another bucket. I like trusting your players, and I know he can call out the plays along the side; but the second half was like he wasn’t even concerned with the fact that they stopped trying to get the ball inside. Was that the plan? Did he care?

Pitt was out-played and out-coached in this game. UConn outrebounded Pitt. Shot better, got the ball inside, and executed. Pitt seemed to disintegrate as the game wore on. Played more individual ball. Coach Dixon seemed to just be taking up space.

UConn got great balanced production. 4 players scored in double figures. They got the ball inside, and barely concerned themselves with 3s. They could take and make mid-range jumpers instead. Just a really good team that keeps improving.

Pitt actually had the lead 63-62 with 4:02 left. Pitt scored 1 point the rest of the way. 1 point. They only got 4 shot attempts — all 3-point heaves — in that final stretch. Troutman completely gakked at the line, hitting only 1-4 in that period.

Ugh.

Let’s go to individual evaluations.

Troutman: Great first half, 6-8 shooting, 3-3 on free throws for 15 points and 5 rebounds. Second half, part of the collapse. He collected 7 more rebounds, but shot 1-5 and 5-11 at the free throw line. Picked a hell of a time to regress to last year’s free throw shooting ability.

McCarroll: Think he didn’t know it was his final home game? Got the start on Senior day. Despite not being a good defender, actually made some sparkplug plays including a couple good steals. Shot 3-4 for 7 points and even had a block. Of course he was 0-2 on free throws, I’m not sure you he shouldn’t just close his eyes when at the line at this point.

Taft: Had trouble with fouls — a dumb charge and a lazy, late grab against a baseline drive were most frustrating. Solid shooting 3-4, not so at the free throw line 1-4, for 7 points. Only 3 rebounds, but 2 blocks. The fouls kept him from doing more.

Krauser: Great assists to turnovers 7 – 2. Had 4 steals and 3 rebounds. Even scored 21 points. The problem was the scoring as Allen Iverson-like. He shot 7-18 which included a crushing 2-12 on 3s. Too many seemed to be rushed shots in an attempt to quickly answer. Krauser also gakked at the free throw line where he is usually near 80%. Today, 5-9 including 1-2 when shooting a technical.

Kendall: Extremely limited by foul trouble. He had the difficult job of trying to match up with Rudy Gay. A top freshman player capable of going inside and outside. Gay was the biggest match-up problem for Pitt. 4 fouls in only 12 minutes.

Graves: Bad game. 1-6 shooting. 1 assist, rebound, steal and turnover. A non-factor.

Ramon: Looked like a freshman on offense. 1-7 shooting 3s — several being wide-open looks — and 2-10 overall. For the most part he played good defense but one series near the end of the game showed his youth. Ramon missed a 3 with 1:17 left, Pitt down by 6. Pitt was unable to get a steal, and wasn’t trying to foul. Ramon ended up defending Gay, deep in the backcourt with 7 on the shot clock. Gay started to make a move, and Ramon panicked that he would get past and grabbed him for a foul. A dumb mistake. Ramon just hasn’t been the same since he hurt his shoulder in the beginning of February. In the six games he’s played this month, he is shooting 13-44 (29.5%) overall and an even worse 7-27 (25.9%) on 3s.

Pitt’s lack of productivity from its guards is a big problem at this point. It makes you wonder why Benjamin is suddenly buried on the bench again.

I’ll come back with a real post later. There should be no shame in losing this game, if Pitt actually played well in the second half. 14-29 on free throws was a killer. Even if Pitt only shoots it’s average of 65-66%, that’s 5 more points. Then there is the second half shot selection. To go from 50% in the first half (despite 1-7 on 3s) to finishing at 39% overall (4-22 on the 3s is a pretty good hint of the problem). Plenty of blame, including the coaching — which I have avoided real criticisms to this point.

I actually had no major complaints about the defense. UConn made some very tough shots, as should be expected with their talent, but Pitt began physically tightening up in the second half.

Damn.

Feel free to leave your thoughts before, during and after.

Okay, here are the game notes for Pitt (PDF). I think we know the storylines. Pitt is looking to stop a 2 game slide. It’s Senior day for Troutman and McCarroll. A Pitt win pretty much locks in their NCAA Bid. A win gives the Seniors 107 wins in their 4 years, tying them with last years Seniors for most wins in a career. Coach Dixon is still trying to get win #50. Perimeter defense has been killing them.

The game is a national game on CBS at 3:45 called by Ian Eagle and Jim Spanarkel. Pitt’s first of two games on CBS.

As for the game, the match-ups are more of the style Pitt likes. Inside, UConn has Villanueva — who has played like everyone has been expecting the last couple weeks — and Josh Boone — a kid with plenty of talent to match Troutman on the boards and bang. The biggest match-up problem will be Freshman Forward Rudy Gay. He can go inside and out. Kendall will be given first crack at trying to contain him. UConn likes to run much more than Pitt, but for the last 2 years Pitt has been able to control the tempo of the games in the majority of the time.

UConn, while not a 3-point shooting team, especially with Rashard Anderson still out, has gotten stellar, mature play from Sophomore Point Guard Marcus Williams. In their last game against Notre Dame he had 17 points, 12 assists and 9 rebounds. He is part of the reason why UConn has been able to run the floor much more effectively. He is making the case as the best point guard in the Big East. Pitt will look to frustrate, bump and slow him down. Stopping the transition will be major.

This being Senior day, there is a lot of well-deserved attention being paid to Chevon Troutman. Joe Starkey looks at what happened to Troutman’s more highly recruited cousin in relation to the character of Troutman, and the praise from Pitt radio broadcaster:

Dick Groat, the former basketball star at Duke who’s been broadcasting Pitt games for 26 years, called Troutman the best all-around Panthers player he’s seen. Those are big words, considering Groat had a bird’s-eye view of Sam Clancy, Charles Smith, Jerome Lane, Brian Shorter, Vonteego Cummings, Brandin Knight and Jaron Brown.

“He does it all at both ends of the floor,” Groat said. “He’s an awesome rebounder, a real physical kid. He comes up with the big bucket and the big offensive rebound when you need it. The best way for me to describe him is as a winner. I still remember his freshman year, when we were playing at Georgetown, which was 16-0, and all the other big guys were in foul trouble. He came in and helped us win that game.”

There’s a puff piece focusing on Troutman’s family life and history in the Hartford Courant. Troutman figures to draw a lot of the attention of the UConn players on both ends. They remember how he just exploded in the second half up in Storrs.

The better compliments of Troutman the player comes from UConn Coach Jim Calhoun, in this story, more about the rivalry between the two teams.

“He plays the game unlike most basketball players today,” Calhoun said. “It’s not by jumping and leaping, it’s really on the floor. He’s smart and he’s crafty and he’s allowed to be so physical. He hits you on every play and I don’t mean he cheap-shots you, because he doesn’t ever do that, which may be one of the reasons they don’t call fouls on him. But he’ll give you that little hip to throw you off-balance or will rut you out of the post with his thigh.

“But he won’t stay with it like a lot of guys do and he never fouls a guy when the ball is coming to him, which is when a lot of guys do. He’s one of the craftiest kids who’s ever come through this league.”

I would say Troutman is the most popular Pitt basketball player — ever. More popular than Lane, Miller, Smith or Clancy. He is respected and liked for the way he plays, his production, demeanor and effort. For most of us, I suspect he is what we want everyone else to see as the face of Pitt basketball.

Both teams have 3 games left and feel they are in a crucial stretch. UConn has an outside shot of still winning the BE, but needs to win out and get some help.

Pitt needs to shake everything off, and put it back together.

No. 17 Connecticut at No. 18 Pittsburgh: The Panthers (18-6, 8-5) are in the NCAA Tournament, so let’s not go there despite Pitt’s embarrassing non-conference schedule and two-game losing streak. But their NCAA (and Big East) Tournament seed is plummeting. Once upon a time Pitt was unbeatable at home. Then again, once upon a time center Chris Taft played in the final minutes of close games. He’d better show up against UConn (18-6, 10-3), which is seeking to avenge its 76-66 loss Jan 22.

The players, of course, believe in themselves and each other. They seem to be in the circle the wagons, us against the world mode. Which, of course, is standard. They have to back it up on the court. Some are making this game Pitt’s last stand.

It’s Pitt’s Super Bowl.

It’s UConn.

Normally, nothing more need be said when these two teams get together, whether it’s a Saturday night at Madison Square Garden or a Saturday afternoon at Petersen Events Center.

Except this time, there are ramifications beyond bragging rights and rankings, and the Big East Conference Tournament championship.

This time, Pitt’s season might be at stake.

A loss won’t eliminate Pitt from NCAA consideration, but with games at BC and at Notre Dame up next, the Panthers would be in serious jeopardy of succumbing to the previously unthinkable should they protect their house as poorly as they did on Wednesday night against West Virginia.

So there’s a lot to lose this afternoon.

But there’s also much to gain.

There is truth to this view. This is about winning the last home game of the season. This about showing the fans and themselves that they are not going to just roll over on the season at this point.

And it’s about next year. That the Pete is still a special place. That when a team comes there, they should be worried. This will be a very different team next year, regardless of whether Taft stays or goes. Troutman gone means the middle, the inside game will be much different. It may mean Pitt needs to become more of a perimeter, driving penetrating team, rather than simply getting it inside. The incoming class and guys like Gray and DeGroat will need to be better — and maybe things won’t have to change. Those are all questions for next year. But people are going to be nervous about the changes. About the loss of Troutman.

Keep in mind that UConn has never won at the Pete.

UConn considers this to be a “revenge” game.

The Payback Tour continues for the 17th-ranked Huskies (18-6, 10-3), who avenged an earlier defeat to Notre Dame with a 14-point win Monday. Game time is 3:45 today at the Petersen Events Center where they’ve lost in their only two previous appearances.

“That’s been on my mind since we lost,” sophomore Charlie Villanueva said of the earlier meeting. “We had a big lead and we just let up. We can’t let that happen. Right now we’re a much better team than before. We’re on a roll right now, so it’s going to be a good game. We just have to play the whole 40 minutes through and we should be fine.

“We’ve just all been on the same page. Before, there was a little bit inconsistency from us. Right now we’re playing well as a team together.”

A “Revenge” game at the Pete didn’t work well for Pitt on Wednesday.

In Fittipaldo’s weekly Q&A, he says that Ricardo Greer is playing overseas in England. A little more digging finds that Greer was in the British Basketball League, with the London Towers last year. This year, He is in France with a team called SIG Strasbourg. Playing with the same team as his brother.

I said it would be late before I got back.

Now everyone still feels very disappointed right now. I mean on Wednesday, before the WVU debacle, Grant Wahl on SI.com wrote this.

I’ll give you five teams outside the top eight that wouldn’t surprise me if they reached St. Louis:
…
Pittsburgh: The Panthers have won too many tough Big East games on the road (at Syracuse and UConn) to be discounted from the national-title chase.

Now, I’m sure he’d like to revise that after what happened. Having said that, this team is still NCAA bound. Will it do anything? Who knows. Will they be better than a 7 or 8 seed? Maybe.

Yet, the local media is ringing the bells of doom and gloom.

After being swept by West Virginia in the season series two nights ago, the following question was raised about the Pitt basketball team: Could the Panthers find themselves sitting at home in March while the likes of Vermont, Miami (Ohio) and Holy Cross are playing in the NCAA Tournament?

The answer could be yes.

The 18th-ranked Panthers not only dropped to 18-6 overall, 8-5 in the Big East, with Wednesday’s 70-66 home loss to the Mountaineers, but they also plummeted in the Ratings Percentage Index, a formula used in helping the NCAA Tournament committee select its 34 at-large bids.

The RPI gauges a team’s winning percentage (weighted 25 percent), an opponent’s winning percentage (50 percent) and an opponent’s opponent’s winning percentage (25 percent). Road victories are weighed more heavily than home victories and home losses more heavily than road losses.

The Panthers are ranked No. 51 in the latest RPI, updated daily by ESPN.com.
…
In the event they finish 8-8 in the Big East and 18-9 overall, their profile will lose luster. They would have lost five in a row to close out the regular season. And, even if they finish 9-7, they would have lost four of five down the stretch, which would not sit well with the NCAA committee.

It should also be noted that teams that finish 8-8 in the league rarely make the NCAA Tournament. Of the 11 teams that went 8-8 the past five years in conference play, only Boston College in 2002 made it. Even a 10-6 mark is no guarantee. Two of seven teams that finished with that mark in the past five years have been left out of the tournament.

The bells are quite loud.

The top five teams in the Big East receive a bye in the first round of the Big East tournament. Pitt not only has a challenging final three games, but the Panthers also lose Big East tiebreakers to most of the teams around them in the standings. If the Big East tournament started today, the Panthers would be the No. 6 seed and would have to play the No. 11 seed in a first-round game because they lost games against Georgetown and Villanova, the two other fourth-place teams.

Big East tournament seeding, though, might be the least of Pitt’s worries. The NCAA selection committee has several criteria for inviting teams to the NCAA tournament. Chief among them is how a team finishes the season, in addition to the Ratings Percentage Index (RPI).

Pitt’s projected RPI dropped to No. 51 after the West Virginia loss. With Pitt’s remaining schedule acting as a double-edged sword, the Panthers can build their RPI back up, or it could fall even more.
…
The game against Connecticut tomorrow is senior day, the final scheduled game of the season at the Petersen Events Center. If the Panthers don’t start winning again soon, they could be back at home for another unscheduled game in mid-March.

An NIT game.

It’s a bit much. Even to me. It’s one thing to raise the possibility, but this is a little ridiculous. Turns out, I’m not the only one to think so (Feb. 25 entry)

It’s not my job to police other members of the press — besides, if anyone needs the occasional traffic cop, it’s me — but what’s going on in Pittsburgh is ridiculous.

If your only source of news was the Pittsburgh-area media, you’d think the Pitt basketball team was in danger of falling into the NIT.

Stop it, Pittsburgh media, you’re killing me.

By losing their last two games the Panthers (18-6, 8-5) are undermining their seeding, and they’re crushing what appeared in December and January to be a potentially Final Four-type season. But they’re not going to the NIT.

Stop it, Pitt-area media. You’re embarrassing yourselves.

Pittsburgh’s RPI is in the low 50s, and would drop (a little) more if the Panthers limp to the finish line in their final three regular-season games against Connecticut and at Boston College and Notre Dame.

But Pitt is an NCAA Tournament team, and it’s not even a close call. Their non-conference schedule was mostly a joke, but the Panthers did beat Memphis, Richmond and South Carolina. That’s not Duke, Arizona and Kentucky, but it’s an OK place to start.

In the Big East, which is the best league in the country regardless of what the old RPI, current RPI or future RPI says, Pittsburgh has swept No. 15 Syracuse. Pittsburgh has won at No. 17 Connecticut. Pittsburgh has beaten Notre Dame.

Yes, the Panthers have lost their last two. But they’ve won six of their last nine, OK? A little perspective, please.

The game tomorrow is important. Pitt needs to put it together. Tough as UConn is, they could be just what Pitt needs. A team, with only one real outside threat, and mainly inside players. UConn is very good and putting things together, but they are still one of the teams that Pitt matches up well against.

And good news, Seth Davis at SI.com is picking UConn.

When these teams played in Storrs on Jan. 22, UConn was a talented, young team still finding its way. Well, guess what? The Huskies have found their way. This version never would let Pittsburgh erase a 17-point second-half deficit on its own home floor. The biggest difference is Charlie Villanueva, who has has shed his early-season diffidence to reel off four 20-plus-point games in his past five outings. Sophomore point guard Marcus Williams is also vastly improved and coming off the best game of his career, a sterling 17-point, 12-assist, two-turnover performance against Notre Dame. Yes, UConn is still without leading scorer Rashad Anderson (staph infection), but Pitt’s problems are a little bigger right now. The Panthers have lost their past two games, have been getting inconsistent play from Carl Krauser and Chris Taft, and they have road dates with BC and Notre Dame ahead next week. I expect they’ll be stumbling down the stretch.
Seth’s Pick: UConn 79, Pittsburgh 71

Let’s keep that streak going.

I will be going to a legal symposium all day tomorrow. No free icecream. I probably won’t be on the blog until late in the evening. Maybe one of the other guys will fill in the gap.

Use the side links to find some info. For more on UConn, go through HuskyBlog‘s links to the newspapers and UConn Athletic Department.

For just a post. Lots of good stuff over at CollegeFootballNews.com. There is the spring preview of the Big East. Less than a month until the first spring football practice.

Pittsburgh Spring practice starts March 19, Spring Game April 16
What needs working on … Pass defense. Dave Wannstedt had his faults as an NFL head coach, but there’s no questioning what he was able to do as a defensive coordinator. Pittsburgh gave up 255 yards per game through the air last season and needs to stiffen up despite the loss of starting strong safety Tyrone Gilliard.
The most important position to watch is … Receiver. Greg Lee isn’t quite the next Larry Fitzgerald, but he can certainly be the next Antonio Bryant and become the Biletnikoff winner is he comes up with another huge season. As a sophomore, Lee caught 68 passes for 1,297 yards and ten touchdowns averaging 18.9 yards per grab. Joe DelSardo is a strong enough number two to burn defenses that don’t take him seriously.
Spring attitude… Prove that this really is the best team in the Big East. No one was ecstatic about Pittsburgh being in the BCS, but it did what it had to do to get there and proved to be the Big East’s most deserving team. Now is a chance to take a step up and really be the elite power worthy of being in the BCS with a good defensive head coach and a fantastic passing game.

Then there are the storylines of the Big East. The biggest will be the ongoing issue of whether the BE should have an automatic BCS bid. Worth reading, especially #7.

Final thing is a review of all the new coach hirings and thoughts on each.

Pittsburgh
Head Coach: Dave Wannstedt
Former Coach: Walt Harris — Head coach at Stanford

Bio: After 16 up-and-down seasons with three of the most storied NFL organizations, Wannstedt, 52, heads back to college determined to lead his alma mater to the glory days of the 1970s. He’ll forever be linked to Jimmy Johnson, for whom he served as defensive coordinator at Oklahoma State, Miami and the Dallas Cowboys. Together, the two won a national championship in 1987 and a pair of Super Bowls in the early 1990s. Wannstedt’s head coaching career with the Chicago Bears and Miami Dolphins was a mixed bag of mediocrity and unfulfilled expectations.

The Skinny: If the transition to the college game is a smooth one, Wannstedt looks like an ideal fit for Pittsburgh. For years, the Panthers tried to lure him back home, but only after last year’s debacle in Miami did it come to fruition. He leads with passion and integrity, and has already created the kind of commotion around the Steel City that was foreign to Walt Harris. Like Pete Carroll, Wannstedt relates well to young people, and could be better suited for coaching at this level.

Putting Out the Welcome Mat: LB H.B. Blades. Already the Panthers’ top defender, Blades should become an even bigger factor in a defense that’s predicated on speed and attacking.

Seems like a cautious thumbs up for the hire. Plenty of qualifiers.