I’m going to be limited in watching of this game. I’m DVRing it for closer watching later, but I have to keep an eye on the Cinci-WVU, Memphis-Houston and Kansas-K-State at the same time.

Both Pitt and Villanova are in dire need of winning this game. Pitt lost at home to Rutgers and can’t afford to drop a second straight at home. The Wildcats have lost two straight, and are below .500 in conference play. This could be a game that really dictates a lot about the rest of the season for both teams. Neither sets of fans can really disagree on this.

Pitt has been up-and-down while ‘Nova has flat out been in a slump.

The Wildcats have struggled at both ends of the court during their slump, but particularly on defense. They gave up 50 percent shooting to both Rutgers and Notre Dame and struggled defending hot-shooting guards for both teams.

Offensively, leading scorer Scottie Reynolds has felt the effects of the undivided attention of opposing defenses. He is 10 of 32 overall and 1 of 14 on three-point tries in his last two games.

Casiem Drummond, Villanova’s 6-foot-10 sophomore center who has played only briefly in one game since Dec. 9 because of a stress fracture in his right ankle, returned to practice Monday, but coach Jay Wright said he would be cautious about Drummond’s return.

Some of Villanova’s trouble can be attributed to the level of youth on the team.

Two years ago, a veteran Villanova team fell a win short of the Final Four. That team had a backcourt consisting of seniors Randy Foye and Allan Ray, junior Mike Nardi and unflappable sophomore Kyle Lowry.

Now Wright’s backcourt is run by sophomore Scottie Reynolds and a trio of freshmen: Corey Fisher, Malcolm Grant and Corey Stokes.

“Veteran guards in this league are important. No one’s benefited from that more than us,” Wright said. ‘We know that and we respect it when they have them on other teams.”

Pitt struggled against ‘Nova’s defense and pressure on the guards in the last meeting. Pitt players, though, are saying that was then and different circumstances.

Ramon and his backcourt mate, Keith Benjamin, each committed five turnovers against Villanova’s quick, guard-oriented attack. It was only Pitt’s second game without injured point guard Levance Fields (overmatched Lafayette was the first), and it showed with the new backcourt.

“That game is behind us,” Ramon said. “We came out with no energy. It was one of the first games with a new lineup out there. Guys weren’t stepping to the ball or stepping to the pass. We got better on that.”

Ramon and Benjamin weren’t alone. Everyone who played for Pitt that Sunday afternoon in Philadelphia turned the ball over at least twice.

“It was our first Big East game and really our first game without Levance,” said Brown, who had more turnovers (four) than field goals (three) in his second career start. “We had to get used to playing and that was the cause of all the turnovers. So I don’t think it’s going to be an issue.”

Yes, that means everyone will be watching to see that Pitt doesn’t turn the ball over every other minute.

“I think that was an aberration. At least, I hope it was,” Pitt coach Jamie Dixon said.

Dixon seems to be right. As Ramon and the Panthers have become increasingly comfortable with their new roles, they have cut down on the turnovers. In fact, they have halved the number to 10.6 per game since the Villanova loss, a span of five games.

Even in the Panthers’ shockingly bad loss to Rutgers last Saturday, they committed 13 turnovers. It was poor shooting and poor defense, not instability out front, that caused the upset.

Naturally, that will all start with Ronald Ramon. He has played much better at point. Not trying to do too much and making better decisions. Though, he does give his teammates credit for his improvement.

Ramon said his teammates and coaches have made the necessary adjustments in helping him become a more productive point guard.

The playbook was scaled back, giving the less experienced players less to comprehend.

The players also are making sure Ramon gets help when needed. Even little things, such as stepping to the pass with authority, are helping limit turnovers

Of course, if Pitt is going to win this game, they need to dominate where they have the advantage. That is the frontcourt. Young has to play well, and so does Blair. Blair, especially, has to avoid the fouls. Something that has become a repetitive theme.

Practices went back to more intense, physical competition after the Rutgers debacle (is anyone doing a running count on the adjectives used to describe that performance?).

“If we would have gone non-contact today, guys would have been upset,” senior guard Ronald Ramon said after the two-hour practice. “It was definitely good, especially after a loss. Guys want to get after it and want to respond.”

Coach Jamie Dixon, whose practices are closed to observers, is trying to reignite some of the aggressiveness and intensity that seemed to be missing in the second half of the loss to last-place Rutgers.

“Our thing is built on intensity and toughness and physicality,” Dixon said, “You can’t help but lose some of it in some of the practices. Plus, that’s what the guys want to do. They want to play five-on-five. It was good today, and it will be good tomorrow.”

To lessen the chance for injury, No. 18 Pitt has been focusing mainly on skill work and conditioning at practice in recent weeks. The Panthers have held only a handful of all-out, five-on-five competitive practices since losing Cook and Fields in late December.

None of those practices compared to yesterday’s workout, in which redshirt freshman Gilbert Brown estimated “90 percent” of the session was the same five-on-five drills that have defined Pitt’s program for many seasons.

It helped that Pitt actually had enough bodies to go 5-on-5 for the first time in a while. Even if the injury situation isn’t completely good.

G Keith Benjamin reopened the gash on his right index finger in Saturday’s loss to Rutgers and had to get his stitches replaced. He practiced Monday with what coach Jamie Dixon figured was more tape “than he had the other two games.”

C/F Cassin Diggs returned to practice Monday, but only briefly. Dixon said that Diggs’ injured hip wouldn’t allow him to complete the session. Surgery is still not out of the question.

“He’s still struggling,” Dixon said. “He’s not even close … He doesn’t feel comfortable, doesn’t feel good out there.

Getting Diggs back for some of practice along with new walk-on Ryan Tiesi. It also appears that Dixon did give a closed door (and with Dixon there rarely is any other kind) “discussion” of the work ethic and effort after Rutgers.

I do love increased transparency. Both papers had features on DeJuan Blair and LeSean McCoy. Credit to Ray Fittipaldo and the P-G, though, for explaining exactly how this happened.

First, there were the photo shoots, then a television interview and finally another round of interviews with print reporters. By the time their media obligations were finished late morning had turned to early afternoon, but LeSean McCoy and DeJuan Blair seemed to be reveling in their new-found celebrity.

The Pitt media relations staff has been busy touting the exploits of their young superstars and a media blitz yesterday was done in part to showcase two of the school’s emerging stars. Both athletes, who are just as comfortable in front of a microphone as they are on the athletic fields, are embracing the pressure that comes along with star status.

“You know me,” said Blair, a Hill District resident and former star at Schenley High School. “I love the media. It’s excellent to get into the limelight.”

“When you have success, this comes with it,” McCoy said matter-of-factly.

It has been 30 years since two freshmen have made such a big impact on Pitt athletics.

The rest of the story focuses on the historical parallels to 1977 with Sam Clancy and football recruiting class Jackie Sherill brought in.

The Trib story plays it straight and does a Q&A with the two.

Good stuff and a solid idea to promote the two.  Not a lot more to really say about it, though.