That’s the meme today. St. John’s is playing well and has won two straight — admittedly at home in both games — over Syracuse and ND. The Syracuse game was more of a shock then the ND outcome. Sure the Irish were ranked, but they had yet to win on the road. Syracuse was looking much better. In both games, St. John’s got off to tremendous starts, building up big leads and then just doing enough to hang on.

I’ve gone on record as saying this is not totally surprising since St. John’s has done this sort of hot run in the Big East the last year or two — before the lack of depth and everything else catches up to them.

Another view is that the Big East is a lot closer in terms of talent this year.

“Last year, there were teams at the top that other teams thought they couldn’t beat,” Roberts said. “Right now, anyone can beat anyone on any given night. The big thing is there is a lot more parity.

“In this league, it’s all about the matchups. You could be playing a team with a [worse] record, but, if you don’t match up with them and you don’t play well, you can get beat.”

The match-up with Pitt has been close the last few years — to great consternation.

Finally, there is the view that the Red Storm are playing better, because their coach finally reached them.

The recent rally started after Roberts sent his team home from practice last Friday and told them to return to the gym at 10 p.m. with an improved mind-set. St. John’s was coming off a 71-63 loss at DePaul, its fourth loss in a row.

“I was disappointed with our effort, so we talked to them about respecting the jersey and the school and playing with pride,” said Roberts, a third-year coach who replaced Mike Jarvis. “I can deal with a loss. If we get beat, then we get beat. But if we get beat, we have to be playing as hard as we possibly can. I think what has changed is their mind-set. They have responded. They have responded to some diversity and toughness, and that’s good.”

Uh-huh. Those are always great stories until they fade in the next losing streak.

Naturally, any trip to Pittsburgh for St. John’s means someone needs to raise the stripper incident.

On Feb. 4, 2004, after a 20-point loss at Pittsburgh, six players went to a Steel City-area strip club and took a 38-year-old woman back to the team hotel for sex in exchange for cash.

That was after coach Mike Jarvis had resigned earlier in the year, after most of the top local prep programs had scratched the Red Storm off their lists after Big East programs such as Pittsburgh, Connecticut and Louisville had risen to prominence with top New York recruits.

The Sexcapades fiasco led to revelations of NCAA violations, self-imposed sanctions and, finally, NCAA penalties. St. John’s had become a college basketball punchline.

That’s rather meaningless,  at this point. The bigger deal will be how Aaron Gray and Lamont Hamilton do against each other.

So Paul Zeise is back with some weekly Q&A.

Q: How do you think Pitt had done in recruiting this year? Do you think there is enough talent in the state to sustain a great program or does Pitt have to go out of state more?

ZEISE: Let’s start with your second question — no, not anymore. I think if you look at the recruiting classes of Pitt and Penn State in recent years it is clear there aren’t enough high quality players in this state any more. I like Pitt’s new strategy of going into Maryland, Delaware and Virginia more because I do think they have a chance to be very successful there. There are still a lot of good players and even great players from Pennsylvania, but it is a pipe dream to think you can recruit this state exclusively and build a consistent winner.

As for your first question — I touched on this in the opening — I like this recruiting class because I think it has a lot of potential and that’s all you can ask. You want guys with talent, good character and a good work ethic and trust you have a good coaching staff that can help them reach their potential.

I also think the way Dave Wannstedt has closed — by landing blue chippers like Tony Tucker, Sherod Murdock, Brandon Lindsay, LeSean McCoy, Mo Williams — for the second year in a row and it shows how good of a recruiter he is. The best recruiters are the ones that can close the deal on the most coveted kids (like Bobby Bowden does each year) late in the process. It gives a lot of hope for the future but the team needs to start showing some of the fruits of this labor in the fall.

That there was more kids verballing from outside of Western Pennsylvania has had an impact on the level of excitement and coverage of the recruits. There is less familiarity with the players. We are told they are good. We get the good reports, it’s nice to see all those stars next to their names. But we just don’t know as well.

As for the rest of the Q&A, not that much real info.

Here’s something to ponder. The worst team for Pitt to play from a historical sense is St. John’s. Pitt has a career record of 16-33 against the Red Storm. That’s a paltry .327 winning percentage. Even with all the games and losses to Syracuse (34-61), that’s still a .358 winning percentage. In the last two years, in the midst of the St. John’s reduced scholarships, NCAA penalties and their struggles. They are still 2-1 against Pitt. I’m not sure why they play Pitt so well and Pitt plays so bad against them, but these are not games to enjoy watching.

Last year, St. John’s hit a hot streak in the middle of Big East Conference play — and Pitt was one of the victims — before they ran out of gas after a few games. They ended up going to Storrs and after keeping it close in the first half were blown out in the second half. Jeff Adrien for UConn was kicked out of the game and suspended a couple more for mixing it up with a St. John’s player.

It would appear that St. John’s is in another one of its hot streaks. Taking out Syracuse and ND. While the styles were slightly different in each game, the consistent thing was that St. John’s got out to a big lead in the first half and just held on for dear life.

For those of you sick of hearing about other things regarding Levon Kendall, this will depress you. The new meme may be that he had a role in the seminal animal playing sport movie, “Air Bud”:

How come no one’s talking about his acting skills, though? IMDB — and I don’t think this has been reported previously — lists “Levon Kendall” as an “Additional Basketball Player” in the epic 1997 film Air Bud (star Kevin Zegers is pictured at right). Pitt’s Kendall would have been 13 then, and the movie had a Canadian casting director, so it makes sense.

Let’s see how long until someone in the local media asks him about it. Actually, the question is, where was the film shot. If it was shot in Vancouver, then yes, it could very well be him. How many Levon Kendalls are there in the world? Luke Winn also dropped Pitt to #12 in his power rankings.

The ESPN Power Rankings puts Pitt at #8 which is actually better then where I and the rest of the AOL Fanhouse bloggers ended up putting Pitt (#9).

If you really want to find out more about Dixon — and maybe a little insight into why he won’t publicly rip into his players. Something many seem to crave. Maybe the FSN “In My Own Words” episode that runs on FSN-Pittsburgh next on Monday at 12:30pm will help people to understand (doubt it).

Recent addition to Pitt Blather, Dennis, inserted himself into P-G Pitt b-ball beat writer Ray Fittipaldo’s online chat today with a couple of questions.

PittHoopsatPittBlather: Those of us who have been following Pitt basketball for at least the past five years generally see this team as the best of the Howland/Dixon era in terms of being able to go deep into the tournament. But what do you think is the greatest reason? My vote goes to three-point shooting.

Ray Fittipaldo: I’m not sure I agree that this is the best team of the Howland-Dixon era. That team in 2002 and the one in 2003 were pretty good. Both lost in Sweet 16 games. This team is good for a number of reasons. The 3-point shooting is certainly one of them. The Panthers lead the Big East in 3-point shooting percentage and Ronald Ramon might be one of the top five 3-point shooters in the country. But there are other reasons to like this team. It has balance and it has depth. When Sam Young plays the way he did last night against Cincinnati, it adds another dimension to the team. They’ll need performances like that from him and other reserves in the tournament.

Jeff: I was curious about several of the last few Pitt losses; Marquette, Big East finals Syracuse and last regular season game with WVU … There is one constant in all three games — Tim Higgins was on the crew that did the game. This is one rather large coincidence. What are you thoughts?

Ray Fittipaldo: You mention those three games, but my understanding is that Pitt has a very good record when Higgins referees the game. One Pitt fan I saw at the Cincinnati game keep-s track. He said Pitt is in trouble when Jim Burr and Curtis Shaw are calling the game. I know Shaw was an official in all three of Pitt’s losses this season. And everyone at Pitt remembers Shaw throwing students out of the game a couple of years ago. If I was a Pitt fan, I’d be happy to see Higgins but maybe not when I see Burr and Shaw.

PittHoopsatPittBlather: Just when it appeared that Sam Young was steadily falling out of the rotation he stepped up with a solid performance last night. Do you see him being a factor come tournament time or do you think yesterday’s game was an aberration?

Ray Fittipaldo: If you noticed Young was into the game at the first media timeout last night, which is something new. I think Dixon wanted to give him more playing time to see if he could get more production out of him. Young has to do more than score once every five games, though, if Pitt is going to be successful in March. We all know the problems at power forward. If Young plays the way he did last night, their problems are masked a little better.

Nice.

There will be a “party” of sorts on February 7 at the Petersen Events Center to celebrate National Letter of Intent Day and then the Pitt-WVU basketball game at 7:30.

We are excited to announce Pitt Athletics will host Pitt fans at “Panther Pride Night”. This very special event will be held in conjunction with National Letter of Intent Day for football on Wednesday, February 7th, 2007 at the Petersen Events Center. The festivities will begin at 6:00 p.m. Doors will open at 5:00 p.m.

Coach Dave Wannstedt will “kickoff” the evening with the presentation of his 2007 recruiting class, which will include introductions of those football student-athletes who signed binding letters of intent to attend Pitt earlier that day. Coach Wannstedt and his staff will provide exclusive insight into each member of the Class of 2011 and show video highlights from each student-athlete’s high school career.

Following the “signing day” activities, we will host a live men’s basketball “game watch” on the Petersen Events Center’s state-of-the-art video board. The Panthers take on West Virginia in Morgantown at 7:30 p.m. The Pitt Pep Band and cheerleaders will perform.

This comes from the Oakland Zoo Blog and it sounds like some of that came from some sort of official announcement but I have been unable to find one.

A party on a Wednesday night is almost as bad as holding an All-Star game on a Wednesday night (yeah, we’re talking to you NHL). So who’s bringin’ the six pack?

As you can imagine, shooting 12-19 on 3s and pretty well everywhere else will end up being the focal point of the local stories on Pitt beating Cinci.

Playing a Bearcats team that ranks 296th in the nation in 3-point shooting, the Panthers (18-3, 6-1 Big East) got more accurate the farther they were from the basket. They shot a season-best 63.2 percent from 3-point range, and 60.5 overall (23 for 38). No opponent in the 17-year-old history of the Fifth Third Arena has ever enjoyed a better shooting night.

“The shooting was great,” Pitt coach Jamie Dixon said. “It was good to see.”

Pitt had wide open looks and converted.

“The shooting percentage is because of Aaron,” said Ramon, who had 10 points. “We were getting open shots because of the way he moved the ball. We were getting great looks because of the way we pass the ball.”

…

“The shooting was great, but it started from the passing, as always,” Dixon said. “The decision-making was good.”

Things were going so well that even Sam Young got into the act. Young, who hadn’t scored in five games but had 10 against the Bearcats, made a 3-pointer with 5:04 remaining to give Pitt its biggest lead of the half, 32-18.

“It was great execution,” said Fields, who was two shy of the school’s 3-pointer record shared by Andre Aldridge and Jason Maile. “We knew they were going to double the post. Everyone was making the extra pass.”

The view from the Cinci papers was that while the team has made some nice comebacks from deep deficits, but not this time.

There would be no comeback on this night because the Panthers, who start three seniors and a junior, were too experienced to allow one. Pitt walked away with a fairly easy 67-51 victory before 9,196 fans.

“Being down 12 to Pitt is not the same as being down 12 to most people,” said UC coach Mick Cronin. “Being down 12 to Pitt is like being down 25 to a normal team. This is a team that’s not going to blow 12-point leads. They’re just too experienced.”

Coach Dixon still had praise for Cinci and Mick Cronin this season.

“To come up with this kind of talent and competitors is amazing,” said Dixon. “Because I’ve been recruiting in April, and it’s basically impossible to get players this good. Nobody got players that good in April. And he’s done a heck of a job with this group.

“Nobody in the country has this many first-year guys playing this kind of minutes. To be able to do the things they do with new guys is amazing.”

So Cinci can at least have hope.

I guess part of the reason Cinci rarely abandoned the doubling of Gray — even as they were getting pounded with 3s — was conserving depth and fouls. Leave a player inside against Gray and he could have muscled in easily and drawn a lot of fouls. Now, granted, the way Gray has been streaky (at best) with his FT shooting that may not seem like a bad strategy. The problem was Cinci couldn’t spare the bodies to follow a “hack-a-Gray.” At least that’s what I’m guessing since no one appeared to ask about that.

Looks like this place wasn’t the only blog to discuss the game as it went. Cinci Post beat writer Josh Katzowitz has a Bearcats blog and had insights of his own. Media riot when the food ran out early. UC students getting on Kendall. Good stuff.

You didn’t think I’d forget.

8:10: Pitt up 10-6, 14:44. Fields has knocked down 2-3 wide open 3s as the Bearcats are collapsing on Gray. Gray is going to have to come out early. Sikes is going to keep him very far out on defense. He won’t be getting a lot of rebounds.

8:18: Pitt is getting wide-open 3s as Cinci is in fear of letting Pitt in the paint. Fields has 9 points. Ramon dropped his 1st 3 and was fouled. 17-8 under 13 minutes.

8:37: It may be bad form to complain when the team is up by double digits. Still, the refs seem to be taking pity on the smaller Cinci team with no calls under the basket. Gray, Biggs and others have been shoved and hacked with impunity.

8:49: Halftime. Pitt up 38-26. Lovely camera work at the end. Focused tight on Fields, missed Cinci’s shot and Pitt getting it out to Graves. Fields was not missing in the first half. 5-6 all 3s for 15 points.

As I said earlier today, Gray keeps getting pulled away from the glass on defense. No one else is helping on the glass. It has allowed Cinci to get 7 offensive boards and make extra shots 10-27. With Pitt shooting so well, very few offensive rebound opportunities.

Pitt has 7 turnovers — all but one from the Centers and Forwards.

9:12: It’s getting frustrating to watch Gray play so passively. It’s one thing to pass out of the double-teams. It’s something else to keep seeing him hesitate when he gets the ball — giving Cinci time to get better position to defend.

9:21: I have to think part of Gray’s hesitation to slam at the moment is the fact that he hurt his wrist on a slam in practice. Just watched him choose to bank an open lay-in. It looked like he thought about the slam and then changed his mind just as he started going up.

9:36: Pitt 61-41, under 8 minutes. Now it’s a matter of just practicing some stuff. Giving other players some time. Not getting hurt and maybe pad a couple stats.

9:55: Pitt now 6-1 in the Big East and 3-0 on the road. 67-51 win.

Pitt just took their time and showed mercy to Cinci. Gray, Cook and Graves all missed their chances to get to double digits on scoring.

Sam Young showed why he needs more minutes and why he doesn’t deserve them at various points during the game. This time, the good outweighed the bad.

Just nit-picking, especially with such an easy win, but I think this would have been the kind of game — at least in the second half — to play a bit more 2-3 zone on defense and let Aaron Gray stay inside. Conserve his energy and let the team practice it a bit more. It might help against say a team like Marquette.

ESPN Insider is following a few college QB’s who are expected to be taken lower than your top prospects like Brady Quinn and Jamarcus Russell. Tyler Palko along with Chris Leak, Troy Smith, and Drew Stanton are among the QB’s being watched and closely examined each day at practice.

First, here are the basics with a few comments from the scouts.

Here’s what some NFL scouts are seeing after a few days of practice:

Palko did not have a bad day on Monday, but it was rather evident that he’s the least talented of the three North quarterbacks at this year’s Senior Bowl.

Not as talented as Smith and Stanton. Not a huge surprise. I’m not sure how a guy like Smith projects at an NFL level though so I would give a second thought to him being placed under Palko based on NFL type talent.

Palko measured just shy of 6-foot-1 and weighed 217 pounds at this morning’s weigh-in, which is a little shorter and lighter than expected.

He shrunk an inch from what the Senior Bowl roster has as well as his bio on the Pitt athletic department website?

During practice, Palko displayed good timing and accuracy as a passer. However, he does not stack up with Drew Stanton or Troy Smith in terms of arm strength or mobility.

I was never under the impression that Palko wasn’t mobile. Watching him on the touchdown pass to Oderick Turner against Rutgers really sunk in as mobility. Sure he’s not going to beat Troy Smith in a foot race but look at a guy like Mike Vick. Sure he’s a good NFL player but I’d rather have a slow footed Peyton Manning that Vick in most situations.

When called upon to make a throw vertically or on a deep out, Palko noticeably dropped down and wound up even more than usual in his delivery.

NFL scouts don’t really like that kind of stuff.

I’ll be back in a day or two with more notes from his practices and well as how he does in the actual game. For the Senior Bowl website check here and for the Palko scouting report go here (Insider subs.).

I have to say that I hope people don’t call for a new arena to replace the Pete as quickly as they are the Fifth Third Arena for Cinci. Seventeen years and already a “dump.”

The local theme about going to face the Bearcats: who are these guys?

The University of Cincinnati Bearcats have a new coach, four new starters and an overhauled roster that includes a back-up tight end from the football team and a reserve whose old school got wiped out by Hurricane Katrina.

…

The starters are three junior college transfers, forward John Williamson, center Marcus Sikes and guard Jamual Warren, along with McGowan and guard Deonta Vaughn, who is averaging 13.6 points and having the best season by a Cincinnati freshman since Shaler’s Danny Fortson in 1994-95.

The biggest problem is depth. The Bearcats have one of the shortest benches in the Big East.

Among all the backups, only junior guard Marvin Gentry, another junior college transfer, averages more than nine minutes per game. Four of the five starters average at least 30 minutes per game, and the fifth logs 28.9 minutes – the same amount that Pitt leader Aaron Gray averages.

The other backups include Ronald Allen, the displaced Katrina victim; Connor Barwin, a tight end on the Bearcat football team; and two walk-ons.

Not surprisingly, the team has been inconsistent. The Bearcats play at Fifth Third Arena, but it might as well be called One-Third Empty. Only one game has attracted more than 10,000 fans to the 13,176-seat venue, against cross-town rival Xavier. The average attendance is about 8,600.

I guess the funny thing about stories discussing how Pitt will face a totally different team — the fact that there was only one meeting with the previous incarnation. How familiar was Pitt with them to start?

Cinci is a team that has struggled to generate enough offense. Shot selection has been frequently questionable. Especially early in the game.

Cronin points to poor shot selection and a lack of patience as the main reasons for the Bearcats’ penchant to fall behind early in games.

“You can’t overstate the importance of shot selection, especially in our predicament,” Cronin said. “It’s definitely been the No. 1 cause of us falling behind.”

What happens, Cronin said, is that the opponent starts to pull away early in the game, which in turn causes the Bearcats to panic and fire up ill-advised shots in an attempt to keep things from getting out of hand.

More often than not, though, they end up contributing to the very thing they’re trying to prevent.

“Sometimes guys are trying to step up and get us a basket because they see the other team score, so we try to answer right away instead of showing patience and not getting caught up in the score,” Cronin said. “It almost seems like it takes us a certain time to forget about the score and just play basketball. Once we’re able to do that, we start playing good basketball.”

Cinci is not a particularly big team. Okay, they are downright small. Their starting Center is 6′ 9″ with no size to back him up on the bench. Now here’s the part that still makes me nervous Sikes — the Center is one of those guys who can shoot from outside. Yes, that’s right, Gray will be dragged outside on defense once again.

Granted on offense, Gray should do well. Greg Oden had a double-double in just 27 minutes against Cinci earlier this season. The Bearcats are well aware that there is Gray and a host of other offensive threats.

“They know how to move without the ball when they get the ball inside to Aaron Gray,” freshman guard Deonta Vaughn said. “A lot of teams look to trap down on him, and he can pass the ball outside, because they know how to move around him. You just try to make them take tough shots and make it hard for them to get the ball inside to Aaron Gray. That would help a lot.”

It likely will be tough for the Bearcats to play much zone defense against the Panthers. The team makes 49.3 percent of its shots from the field and 39.5 percent from the 3-point line. Both numbers rank second in the conference, and if UC plays much zone to keep the ball away from Gray, Pitt will take – and probably make – more outside shots.

“They can shoot it, there’s no doubt about that,” UC coach Mick Cronin said. “That causes problems. You can’t just go zone, because the way Ronald Ramon and Graves shoot the ball. And they pass over the zone. That’s a problem. The problem with Gray is that he’s just so big. We have to find a way not to give him layups.”

Game starts at 8pm.

Can you feel the excitement?

I can’t. A disappointing season and real questions about when the kids will actually be helping Pitt, seem to have muted reaction to another outstanding recruiting class (the LeSean McCoy verbal excepted). Maybe it’s because last year it was all about keeping the local area kids and this year, the class is more diffused. A bunch from the eastern half of Pennsylvania. Just a wider geographic pool. That reduces the local coverage and puff pieces on the kids coming to Pitt. Just a theory.

Well, add another verbal. This one decommitted from Alabama.

The Panthers received a verbal commitment Tuesday from Tampa Middleton cornerback Sherod Murdock, a Florida Class 4A first-team all-state selection who had previously picked Alabama last summer.

Murdock took an official visit to Pitt Jan. 12-14, the same weekend the Panthers introduced former Alabama assistant Chris Ball as their new secondary coach. Murdock followed Ball, his primary recruiter for the Crimson Tide.

“It was a big part of my decision,” Murdock said. “Pittsburgh was considered the frontrunner already. When coach Ball got there, that sealed it.”

Murdock chose Pitt over Kansas and Alabama, which stopped recruiting him after coach Mike Shula was fired and replaced by Nick Saban. Murdock also had scholarship offers from Ole Miss and South Carolina.

Nice that the new hire brought some more help for the secondary. Especially a pretty good one. Scout.com and Rivals.com each have him as a 3-star recruit overall. Scout.com puts him as the #78 CB recruit nationally, Rivals.com says #49 and ESPN.com/Scouts, Inc. ranks him #23 (Insider subs).

He possesses ideal height, average bulk and the frame to get bigger. Is a smooth and fluid athlete for his size. Possesses good top-end speed. He shows excellent acceleration when tracking the ball. Hips are smooth and he can plant and drive with ease. He has long arms and good leaping ability to challenge for the ball in the air. He plays aggressively in run support. Fills hard, takes decent angles and should develop into a solid open field tackler.

Rivals.com also ranks him as the  97th best player out of Florida.
So in the always amusing Recruiting rankings Pitt comes in at #8 according to Scout.com; #23 with Rivals.com; and tied at #26 with Texas A&M on ESPN.com/Scouts, Inc.

I have no idea what it means. I suppose if I was that curious I’d lay out the rankings of each player from each site to see where and why the variations are. The good news is I don’t have that kind of time and I’m not that curious.

I swear, this time for sure. The final thing (I hope) regarding the Marquette game and the officiating. The one thing that hasn’t been resolved is why the hell Coach Jamie Dixon got a technical foul (Insider subs.)?

What’s up with the inconsistencies in calling technical fouls on coaches? Pitt’s Jamie Dixon was given a T after Tim Higgins, according to Dixon, didn’t like the look on his face. Huh? And then did you see Mick Cronin’s reaction to a no-call at the end of regulation of the Cincinnati-West Virginia? It was akin to when Mike Davis went mad during an Indiana-Kentucky game in Louisville.

Cronin went running wildly down the baseline and had to be restrained by his assistants. No call was made. Once again, calling a T on a coach shouldn’t be a subjective move by an official. Yet, that appears to be the case more often than not, depending on the mood of the official.

Glad, there was a good reason at least. Oh, what the hell. A little more from the same.

So what was Marquette’s Dominic James thinking when he went for a drive with seven seconds left in overtime against Pitt on Sunday? Well, James said he actually was reacting to what the officials told him. James said Monday that the officials who called a foul on him at the end of regulation said that he hit Ronald Ramon’s hand. So, James took that advice, knowing that the officials were going to call it tight, and went right at the Panthers. He was right. He got hit and he got the call with under a second remaining in the game.

Can’t fault James for being smart enough to know what to do with the way the game was getting called.

Speaking about the Big East race, Andy Katz got that question in a chat.

Andrew (Milwaukee): After these last four games for Marquette (at UConn, dismantling West Virginia, at Louisville, and then the HUGE win at Pitt) what do you think their chances are for taking the Big East? They only have 3 more road games (Georgetown, DePaul, Notre Dame), and they get Pitt again in front of a CRAZY Bradley Center crowd.

Andy Katz: As well as Marquette is playing those three road games you mentioned could all be losses. Georgetown could pose plenty of problems with its size and Notre Dame will be up for the Eagles and is fully capable of winning. DePaul is the wackiest team in the Big East this season. Ultimately I say Pitt wins the Big East by a game over Marquette.

We’ll see. Not sure why Georgetown (and even Villanova) seem to be being dismissed when there is still plenty of time left in the season and the standings very close.

Finally, Pat Forde likes what Pitt will and can do on the road in the Big East.

Pittsburgh (17) — Big East road record: 2-0, with victories over Syracuse (RPI 47) and DePaul (63). Road ahead: Tough. Cincinnati (140), Villanova (21), West Virginia (54), Seton Hall (105), Georgetown (36), Marquette (26). Count on at least a couple of losses in there.

I’d settle for just a couple losses in that mix.

If Pitt goes up big on Cinci early, it can’t actually be assumed Pitt will coast.

Against Ohio, the University of Cincinnati fell behind 27-13 in the first half, and in the next game, the Bearcats allowed Memphis to run to a 39-12 advantage. South Florida took a 26-15 lead against UC, Syracuse opened the game on a 30-9 run last week and West Virginia got off to a hot start last Saturday, taking a 24-7 advantage in the first half.

In the last two, Syracuse had to hold on pathetically to win by one and WVU had to come back late in the 2nd half to send it to OT where the Mountaineers were blown out.

Pitt apparently does well after home losses.

Since 2001-02, Pitt is 17-7 following a regular-season loss. Under Dixon, the Panthers have never lost a home game and then stumbled on the road in their next game. They are 4-0 during that span.

That’s a statistically useful thing. Gray is back to practicing with the team, which is more important.

Look for Cinci to employ a full-court press — maybe.

When full-court pressure works as well as it did Saturday in UC’s 96-83 overtime victory over West Virginia, the logical question arises: Why don’t the Bearcats do it all the time?

As Cronin explained after the West Virginia game, the press was a perfect tactic to use against the Mountaineers, who like to set up, run their offense and look for 3-point shots or back-door cuts to the basket, but isn’t always a good idea against other teams.

“Certain teams will attack you and make you pay a lot more than a team that really wants to set up,” Cronin said. “If (West Virginia) attacks you, it’s almost what we want because then we don’t have to guard their offensive sets. If you press Syracuse and they attack you it’s an NBA dunk contest.”

I think Pitt will see a good deal of full-court to try and slow Pitt’s offensive sets and cause less passing. Levance Fields is going to have to play a better game. The Bearcats do have an excellent young guard in Deonta Vaughn.

Fascinating.

With about six minutes left in the game, the referees apparently made the decision that they were going to ruin what had been a highly enjoyable half of basketball up to that point. After letting both teams get away with murder in the first half, Tim Higgins, Mike Kitts, and Ted Hillary decided they needed some face time and completely took over the game.

Louisville and Connecticut combined to shoot three free-throws in the first half, and  56 (38 total fouls whistled) in the second. It was an abomination.

Tim Higgins was the lead ref in the Marquette-Pitt game. It wasn’t quite that extreme. 11 in the first half and 57 in the second and OT. The fact is, that Pitt shot more FTs than Marquette — especially in the second half — but didn’t convert.

I guess that’s why I struggled with the article about Pitt struggling in games called tight.

The scenario was similar against Oklahoma State. The Cowboys were called for 24 fouls, but the Panthers were 23 for 34 from the line. Oklahoma State was 32 for 38.

“I thought we’d be a little bit higher at this point,” Dixon said of his team’s percentage at the line. “But our guards are shooting a pretty high percentage. Free-throw percentage oftentimes is who is shooting your free throws.”

Yeah, but Gray going 2-8 really skewed the numbers. It isn’t whether Pitt can handle playing in a tightly called game — they can. Unlike in past years where it killed Pitt because of the number of free throws the other team had, this is about Pitt making their own. It’s about controlling what they do. That’s really all I have left on the Marquette stuff.

Three meetings don’t seem like enough to create a rivalry. And yet, the few times we’ve played the Marquette Golden Eagles have been great games with all kinds of twists and turns and now we might be witnessing the formation of yet another “new” rivalry.

Yet after torching Connecticut, West Virginia and Louisville, one thing remained clear: Marquette is Pitt’s biggest threat for Big East supremacy this season.

In this age of an expanding Big East, we rarely see a head-to-head clash of this magnitude more than once — nor do we see one that heads to overtime like Sunday’s. Luckily for college hoops fans everywhere, the two programs meet again March 3 in Milwaukee, Wis.

“We are definitely looking forward to playing them at their place,” Pitt guard Antonio Graves said after Sunday’s loss.

So as both teams continue to stockpile talent and develop the programs, meetings like this will continue, manifesting themselves only every so often. And one thing became certain Sunday: Every ensuing contest between Marquette and Pitt will be a rivalry showdown — a must-see matchup at that.

We’re just finalizing the UConn-Pitt basketball rivalry in terms of both teams becoming great for a long period of time after playing them in all of those Big East Tournament finals. Pitt and Marquette are not anywhere near that stage so I’m not going to call this a rivalry quite yet.