Cinci is a dangerous team for three reasons — they have home court, they are improving and they are unpredictable in offensive output.

I don’t think I can stress enough how much home court is skewing results. Not just in the Big East, but in all of the major conferences. I really am not shocked when a road team loses in conference (any conference).

No matter how bad the home team or how good the road team. If Pitt were to lose today, it wouldn’t be a stunner. Good article with some numbers on the road issues in the Big East and then Pitt.

They probably have something to do with the talent level Pitt has featured recently. But there is certainly a mental makeup required to win away from your friendly confines, and the Panthers seem to have it.

No. 15 Pitt (15-2, 3-1 Big East) is 3-2 in road games this season, falling at No. 14 Dayton and at No. 25 Villanova and winning at Washington, South Florida and Oakland neighbor Duquesne. Over the past five-plus seasons — since Dixon became the head coach — the Panthers are 29-15 in road games (.659).

But it’s the Panthers’ conference road record that’s particularly impressive. In the Big East over the past five-plus seasons, the Panthers are 21-12 (.636). For comparison’s sake, last year’s Big East teams were 44-84 (.344) on the road in conference. Throw out the bottom four teams in the league standings _ which went a combined 1-31 in league road games _ and the record is still below .500 at 43-53.

“You got to be able to defend. That has to be there every night, and you have to rebound every night,” Dixon said. “Shooting (decreases), and you won’t get to the free-throw line as much. Those things aren’t going to be there.”

Last season, Pitt was 6-2 on the road in conference.
The Bearcats are 2-0 at home in the Big East — beating Villanova and pounding Syracuse.

Jay Bilas continues to sing the praises of Pitt (Insider subs.).

Positively Pittsburgh: I have been amazed at the strength of character shown by Pittsburgh since Mike Cook and Levance Fields went down with season-ending injuries. After Fields was lost against Dayton, coach Jamie Dixon was admittedly feeling sorry for his team’s plight … for about five minutes. After a very short pity party, Dixon said to his staff, “we’ll be fine.” He also told his team that they could be as good as they wanted to be, and that they had individuals that were more than capable of doing more. They may have been a player in a role, but they were not just role players. Since the Fields injury, Keith Benjamin (17 ppg over the last five games) and Ronald Ramon (32 assists and 11 turnovers over the last five games, 32 points in the last two) have been nothing short of brilliant. Dixon has simplified things and shortened his playbook, going from over 50 set play calls to about 20, and the Panthers have been more efficient as a result. Dixon has been upbeat and encouraging, while at the same time demanding accountability. We talk about toughness a lot, and sometimes that is taken to mean physical toughness. Pittsburgh is tough. They will also be in the NCAA Tournament.

The mental toughness of Pitt, is arguably also why the team has been so successful on the road.

The Bearcats are an improving team, as I said.

After losing five in a row in December, Cincinnati has turned things around with four wins in its past six games.

Sophomore guard Deonta Vaughn has been a big reason for the recent surge. Vaughn is the third-leading scorer in Big East games with a 20.2 average. He scored 29 points in the victory against Syracuse, 25 in a win against Villanova and 24 in a loss at St. John’s.

Pitt guards Ronald Ramon and Keith Benjamin, who have done a fine job of limiting big games from opposing teams’ guards, draw the assignment of covering Vaughn.

“He’s come on lately,” Dixon said. “He has deep range, can put it on the floor. He can get to the basket, can get to the foul line. He scores in a variety of ways. We’ve faced a number of guys like him. It will come down to Ronald and Keith. They will be the two guys on him for the most part.”

Vaughn was limited to only 10 points in a road loss to Notre Dame,  so he will be looking to pick it up back home. Vaughn will get at least 15 I think against Pitt. His coach, Mick Cronin does want the guard to realize when to pass.

The Bearcats are looking to rebound from Tuesday’s second-half collapse in a 91-74 loss at Notre Dame. They already own one conference victory on the road against Louisville, the co-favorite to win the league. Now they’d like to defend their home turf against a team that has been the class of the Big East in recent years.

They’re hoping that sophomore guard Deonta Vaughn, who was averaging 22.8 points in Big East play before Tuesday, will recover from his 10 point performance vs. Notre Dame, which constructed its defense to stop him.

“If you’ve got two guys on you, you’ve got to make the pass and your teammates have got to put the ball in the basket,” Cronin said. “You’re not going to be able to get 20-plus every game. Nobody can.”

It’s the rest of the team what you don’t know what to expect.

For Cinci there is more depth — they go about 9 or 10 deep in terms of double-digit minutes. Their offensive production after Vaughn though, is spotty — to be kind. Williamson and Hrycanuik average a combined 18.2 points. They are the second and third leading scorers.

Cinci, as an offensively challenged team, live off their defense. They will pressure Pitt bringing the ball up-court, so that is a concern.