Pitt looks like it is working on a small forward out of North Carolina (via Big East Blog).

By the start of school, Marhold, now 6-7, came to campus at 215 pounds, and he hasn’t slowed down his work rate.

“Andre has improved 100 percent from last year,” Lewis said. “He’s a gym rat. He really buys into it. He works hard. He leaves our practices now and goes and works out again.”

Marhold averages 17 points and 10 rebounds for the Vikings, who play at Harding tonight in a second-round game of the N.C. 4A playoffs. Besides the Clemson offer, Lewis said Marhold is getting serious recruiting interest from Charlotte, N.C. State, Pittsburgh, Virginia and Winthrop.

Lewis said the schools like Marhold’s long wingspan, his strength and his athleticism. Marhold dunks effortlessly in games from a flat-footed position and jumps over similar players for soft moves around the basket.

“He jumps so high,” teammate Kyle Gaillard said, “sometimes I think he’ll hit his head on the ceiling.”

Telep, the national recruiting analyst for scout.com, thinks Marhold is a potential national top 100 player next year and among the top five or six in a 2009 N.C. class that could be the best in years.

“He’s a guy who is gradually earning high major-level offers,” Telep said. “He’s got a chance to play in one of the big leagues in college because of his athleticism. He just needs to continue to work on his perimeter shot and his overall game.”

Right now, he’s a 3-star prospect at the small forward position. In the ESPN.com/Scouts, Inc. evaluation (Insider subs.), they see him as a tweener at the forward spot.

Marhold is not a true small forward or power forward, but he can do some of the things that coaches look for in both positions. He is explosive, finishes well at the rim and is good in transition. Marhold only has average perimeter skills and needs to improve in all areas as a perimeter player. He needs to work on his 3-point shooting, ball handling and decision making as a player.

The one thing all agree is that he has a high motor, works hard and can get better.

Not much from Cinci since it became a 1-paper town and Xavier is now the glamor program.

The one story, while the Cinci team was Vaughn and Williamson essentially, the issue for Mick Cronin was letting DeJuan Blair have his way inside.

“I couldn’t care less who scores,” Cronin said. “I don’t care if one guy gets 67. It’s all about percentages.

“What I’d like is the guys that aren’t scoring, if they’d play a little better on the defensive end and keep DeJuan Blair off the glass.”

UC outshot Pitt 48.1 percent to 47.2 percent, made eight of 18 shots from 3-point range and outrebounded the Panthers 37-25.

The Bearcats outrebounded Pitt by 12, but Cronin was pissed about Blair getting 6 offensive rebounds (10 overall). That’s either missing the big picture or seeking perfection. I guess when the rest of the Pitt team had only 7 offensive rebounds, he can focus on just one player.

For Pitt, they know it wasn’t pretty, but they are just happy to snap the losing streak and get a win.

“It’s real good to get one,” said point guard Levance Fields, who hadn’t been on the winning side since returning from a broken foot. “Finally.”

The victory gives Pitt at least 20 wins for the seventh consecutive season and bolsters its NCAA Tournament hopes.

“We just found a way to win,” Dixon said.

Pitt (20-8, 8-7) trailed by seven, 40-33, with 16:20 to play, and its NCAA at-large hopes were about to slip from solid to tenuous. But the Panthers went on a 14-3 run – sparked by Sam Young and Keith Benjamin – and then turned back every threat by Cincinnati (13-14, 8-7) down the stretch.

“We were very excited in the locker room,” said Fields, who hit a pivotal 3-pointer with 54 seconds to play to give Pitt a 68-63 lead. “We want to build on this. As much as we are enjoying it right now, we’ve got to get focused against Syracuse.”

Not that Pitt Coach Jamie Dixon is exactly satisfied with how they won.

Even though the victory was a large step toward another NCAA berth, Dixon knows his team has plenty of work to do if the Panthers want to be a team to reckon with in the postseason.

Cincinnati outrebounded Pitt, 37-25. Young, the starting power forward, did not have a rebound. The Bearcats also shot 48 percent from the field. It was the fourth consecutive game that the Panthers have been outrebounded. The past four opponents have all shot 42 percent or more from the field.

“We won, so yeah you can win, but you’re not going to win consistently doing that,” Dixon said. “We’ve gone from a very good rebounding team to one that doesn’t rebound well in the past four games. That has to change.

The shooting percentage isn’t so disturbing as the rebounding to me. The past two games, the opposition has only had 53 and 52 attempts. Limit the attempts, the odds are the shooting percentage will be higher. That Pitt has allowed the offensive rebounds and easy second chance points, though…

So, back to the defense and rebounding struggles. It was noted in the liveblog and comments after the game that one glaring thing. That theme has been picked up by others.

Pitt’s Sam Young had no rebounds in Wednesday night’s win over Cincinnati. The power forward in a program that prides itself — no, identifies itself — by rebounding and defense had no rebounds.

And the guy Young was guarding ended up with 27 points.

Young isn’t the only culprit in Pitt’s latest struggle. The Panthers have been out-rebounded in four consecutive games. With the possible exception of DeJuan Blair, no Panthers established an inside position on the defensive blocks. Cincinnati had 18 offensive rebounds because of it.

“We’re not rebounding,” Pitt coach Jamie Dixon said. “The numbers don’t lie.”

No. No, they don’t.

The good late in the game was Fields drilling that clutch 3.

“I told him he’s got to play through this thing,” Pitt coach Jamie Dixon said. “He’s always been a guy who makes big shots. That’s what it was, a big shot.”

“As long as I keep playing hard,” Fields said, “the shot will come.”

It did Wednesday, and the Panthers believe it will again. They think that shot can be the start of a late-season surge into March.

That would be nice.

For the first time since the latest incarnation of the Big East I have not had bragging rights in my own house. Pitt needs to win this so I can put the wife back in her place.

7:30: Refs for tonight John Cahill, Michael Stephens and Brian O’Connell.

7:38: Pitt gets first lead on Blair going 2-2 on FTs. 4-3, 18:20 in the game. Then Pitt gets out hustled on offensive rebound to give it right back.

7:41: Some good news. Gentry already has 2 fouls. Otherwise, Deonta Vaughn is off to a hot start for Cinci. Sam Young probably has half the fans ticked off already with a bad decision to force a shot — not even looking to pass out of it — and then matador defense on the other end.

7:45: Everyone’s afraid to shoot the 3. Ramon, Fields and Brown all hesitated and thought against it in one possession. That won’t help if there’s no confidence.

7:51: Cinci shooting better than 50%, but also has 4 turnovers in the first 8 minutes. Mainly because Vaughn got off to a hot start.

7:56: When the double team comes on Blair, the guards have to come to him so he can pass out of it. It does no good for Pitt, if Blair has no one to pass it to.

7:59: Nice. Wanamaker to Blair for a jam. 18-13 Pitt with 9:05 in the half and Cronin needs a time out.

8:01: Sam Young picks up his second foul and out he goes for Biggs with 8+ minutes left.

8:05: Weird. They said that the refs took back the Young foul and put it on Brown. Um, OK. Damn. Biggs made a 3 earlier, now he’s trying to take more. On the bright side, he did have a nice block and has grabbed a couple boards in traffic.

8:10: Out fought inside with Blair getting a blow. Cinci gets a couple shots before it finally falls with the “and 1.” Pitt up 23-21 with a foul shot pending.

8:22: Halftime tied at 29. Pitt still being out-rebounded — 19-13. That’s got me a bit ticked. Vaughn and Williamson have 10 points apiece. Young and Blair have 17.

The good. Pitt has 8 assists on 11 baskets. They have forced 8 turnovers by the Bearcats.

The bad. Out rebounded and hustled. Still not hitting 3s. Guards are not producing. Expect the Bearcats to collapse inside and specifically on Blair and Young even more in the second half.

Cinci with Williamson and Vaughn being the scorers keeps Pitt spread. No packing or helping for risk of losing either.

8:55: Sorry. Trying to put the kids to bed at halftime, and oddly enough the kids didn’t cooperate.

How I avoided committing a Shaken Baby incident with the 10-month old in the first 6 minutes of the second half is a minor miracle.

8:57: Statistically speaking, Gilbert Brown has to make a 3 eventually. Doesn’t he?

9:00: Ramon makes his 2nd 3, and that one was from his favorite spot. Left of center on the perimeter. Pitt has a 50-46 lead with 9:12 left.

9:05: &^O(^$###$#$$%#@ Vaughn! Even with a hand in his face drills that 3.

9:08: Scary, ridiculous stat at this point. Pitt has taken 44 shots. 22 are 3s with 7:32 left. That just should not be.

9:13: NBA continuation for Sam Young on that one. 61-55 with 5:30 left.

9:22: Blair struggling with FTs down the stretch after a 4-4 start. 2-4 on his last four — in the past minute.

9:27: Fields with a 3. Stunning considering how much time was on the shot clock. 68-63 Pitt with 52 seconds.

9:32: How do they miss that travel in the final seconds right in the middle of the lane? Still, Pitt can’t quit on the play just because. Hopefully Pitt gets a make-up before this is over.

9:33: Free throw time for Pitt, from here on out. Brown 1-2.

9:35: Brown with the slam off the rebound and break. The wife just asked me how many fingers she was holding up.

73-67 win for Pitt.

Thoughts: Strange game defensively for Pitt.  The poor rebounding is scaring the crap out of me. This is, however the second straight game where Pitt has forced a ton of turnovers which offsets to some extent allowing so many offensive rebounds. I think Cinci’s 48%  shooting is a little deceptive since it came on only 54 attempts. The possessions by Cinci were limited, but they had so many offensive rebounds.

Deonta Vaughn was tremendous from outside. John Williamson having his way inside was much more worrisome to me.

Again, I’ll repeat, the rebounding has officially become an issue. Pitt only had 25 rebounds and Blair had 10 of them. Benjamin and Brown each had 4 and Sam Young had 0 (though he did have 5 steals).

Too many 3s being taken — especially with the lack of results. 53 shot attempts 26 from outside. Brown has stopped trying to penetrate. Fields is shying from contact. Benjamin started to get some confidence back. All need to go inside to be effective.

Needed win.

If you have a Terrible Towel lying around the house somewhere and you’ll be at tonight’s game against Cincinnati:

The University of Pittsburgh is encouraging all fans attending tonight’s Pitt-Cincinnati men’s basketball game at the Petersen Events Center to bring a “Terrible Towel” in honor of broadcasting icon Myron Cope, a 1951 graduate of Pitt who passed away today at the age of 79.

Cope, the longtime analyst voice of the Pittsburgh Steelers, was the creator of The Terrible Towel in 1975. Cope also served one season (1983) as color analyst for Panthers football, working alongside future Steelers partner Bill Hillgrove.

Pitt and Cincinnati will tip at 7:30 p.m.

Link is here.

Revenge game for Pitt with Cinci coming in tonight.

Cinci has had an ongoing problem with scoring points.

“It’s demoralizing when you can’t score,” UC coach Mick Cronin said after the Georgetown game. “It takes the heart out of your team.”

Why does UC struggle so mightily on offense?

If it were just one thing, it would be easier to fix. But the Bearcats face a preponderance of offensive issues that have combined to limit their effectiveness.

For starters, they rank last in the league in forcing turnovers. As a result, they’re forced to grind out every basket in their half-court offense.

“We just don’t get a lot of fast-break points,” said UC point guard Jamual Warren. “We’ve got to change that. We’ve got to get easy buckets. That’s why were not scoring as much as were supposed to.”

In addition, the Bearcats don’t consistently attack the rim, nor are they a good offensive rebounding team, so they don’t get to the free throw line very often. Only DePaul (473) and Georgetown (484) have attempted fewer free throws than UC’s 489.

And finally, they just don’t have very many scoring threats. Only sophomore guard Deonta Vaughn (17.2 points per game) and senior forward John Williamson (10.6), average in double figures.

Of course, Pitt has it’s own struggles with shooting. Mainly on the outside.

Benjamin said the shooting woes can’t continue – at the peril of Pitt’s season.

“At the beginning of the year, everybody was shooting a very high percentage,” he said. “It fell apart. Now, we’ve got to pick it back up.”

Pitt still ranks sixth in 3-point field goal percentage (33.8) in conference games, but made only 14-of-57 3-pointers during the three-game losing streak.

Lapses on defense and rebounding are to blame, too, but poor shooting has emboldened the opposition. Missed 3-pointers typically lead to defensive rebounds. They create fast-breaks the other way.

“Our shooting from the outside has had something to do with our rebounding,” coach Jamie Dixon said.

Missing on threes means long rebounds. Pitt’s rebounding strength is inside. A legitimate criticism of Pitt’s perimeter shooting is that most of Pitt’s perimeter shooters don’t follow their shot. Only Brown seems to do it with any consistency.

The usual Dixon optimism still comes out even as he stresses what the team isn’t doing well — including the rebounding.

“We feel good given the situation,” Dixon said. “It’s the first time we’ve lost three in a row in a long time. Most schools have that happen more often. We’re No. 25 in the RPI. Given everything that we’ve gone through, people find that amazing. We feel our best basketball is ahead of us.”

Dixon’s players have a similar view. Junior forward Sam Young believes the Panthers are close to having things come together.

“I’m starting to feel like my back is up against the wall, but, at the same time, I feel like as a team we’re starting to come together and play like we should,” he said.

“A lot of people are starting to understand their roles. In the near future, we’re going to take off as a team. That motivates me more than the losses. If we just keep in the same direction and get over the hump, these three losses will just be a steppingstone for us.”

And of course the defense needs to pick it up. Cinci of course goes so slow, that stops will be vital. Turnovers would be nice, but simply not getting confused on screens and sticking with their men to contest the shots for a full 40 would be nice.

Cinci is heading to the Big East Tournament this year. Technically they aren’t there yet. A win with a St. John’s loss tonight would clinch it.

Trying to catch up to things.

I guess it was a little unrealistic to assume Pitt would just flow immediately with the return of Fields. Even Louisville struggled to get things right when David Padgett returned. They lost to Cinci in Freedom Hall in his return, but were lucky enough not to not to be playing the best of the Big East to get things together. UConn had a stretch losing 3 of 4 including a 12 point loss at home to Providence when Calhoun was not on the bench for half the time because of the flu. I guess that’s why I’m not too freaked. There’s still time. The only thing that this is costing Pitt is seeding and some pride. They aren’t on the bubble.
The defense had been huge for the team while Fields has been out. It hasn’t been up to snuff the last few games, but it is much more correctable.

This is only the second 3-game losing streak in 5 years under Dixon. Pitt had been the only team in the Big East not to lose at least 3 games in a row in the past 3 seasons until the Louisville loss.

Jay Bilas joins with Pitt fans in wondering “what if” for this year.

Pittsburgh: It is impossible for me to watch Pitt without thinking about Mike Cook, and just how good Pitt could have been with him and a healthy Levance Fields for an entire season. It is a real tribute to that team and program that the Panthers will be in the NCAA Tournament, but the injuries have really affected what could have been a truly special season.

And in another year, only Pitt fans will remember the whole “what if” aspect.

Card Chronicle had a good recap of Louisville perspective of the win. He’s right about the number of open looks for both teams.

Generally, the Louisville view is that this was a big win especially because of how well the offense looked. Nevermind that Pitt — as we all know — has been struggling defensively in the past week, and that Pitt wasn’t bothered by their pressure defense and picked them apart. I’m not saying they shouldn’t feel good about being the first team to beat Pitt twice at the Pete, but they’d be foolish to read too much into it right now.

Overall, Pitt just needs to get more from the guards. The backcourt is a struggle.

Young and Blair each scored 20 points for the Panthers, but the guards once again failed to do their part from the outside. Pitt was 6 for 21 from 3-point range and is 14 for 57 from behind the arc in the three-game losing streak.

“I’m shooting bricks,” said Fields, who was 4 for 13 from the field and 0 for 4 from 3-point range. “I couldn’t make any shots on the perimeter. [Young and Blair] did everything they were supposed to do down low. They gave us everything we needed to win this game. As a point guard, I didn’t come up big for them down the stretch.”

Reality and stats collide.

When an opponent shot better than 40 percent from the field against Pitt in previous seasons it raised some eyebrows. Now it has become a common occurrence. Ten of the first 14 Big East teams have shot more than 40 percent.

Um, last year opposing teams shot .407 versus Pitt. This year it is .416. Oh, and in 11 of 16 Big East games, the opposing teams shot more than 40% (PDF).

The players aren’t happy about losing. Go figure.

— The game against Notre Dame is the only kickoff time known right now because NBC has exclusive rights to ND games.

— December in Connecticut will be cold.

— The Backyard Brawl is set for Friday, November 28, the day after Thanksgiving. I wouldn’t mind this game to be played on this day normally, except it could end up being a noon or afternoon game. It’s on ABC, which previously had Texas/Texas A&M in the afternoons for the past few years, but they’re moving that game to Thanksgiving night on ESPN. I’m not really too high on the idea of an afternoon Brawl. Also, it’s always odd not finishing the regular season with WVU.

— The WPIAL championship games will likely be played on Saturday the 29th of November, the day after the Pitt game. Therefore the Friday night game won’t take away from any high school games, plus Pitt would be playing before the field gets torn up by the HS games.

— The game against South Florida comes just five days after playing up in Syracuse. Between traveling across the country and a short practice week, it should be interesting to see how the team responds.

— Following the USF game, Pitt has a a bye week before Navy. That’s an 18 day(!) break. So we have five days off before one game then 18 before the next…something seems weird.

— On both August 30 (Bowling Green) and September 20 (Iowa), the Pirates play a 7:05 pm home game. Expect a noon start (ugh). Remember: a good Pitt team will be forced to play at a bad time because of a baseball team that has had 14 losing seasons and will be out of contention by mid-May. Oh, and I’m still a Buccos fan.

Updates: WPIAL finals will be played the weekend before Thanksgiving.

Pitt-WVU is a noon kickoff on ABC.

Yes, this is probably just the “exception.” That there are no WPIAL games (probably) or such. Whatever. It didn’t take long for ESPN and the Big East to force Pitt back into a Friday night home game.

Pitt’s annual Backyard Brawl rivalry game against West Virginia will be played on Friday, Nov. 28, at Heinz Field and will be televised by ABC.

Unlike last season, when Pitt upset West Virginia 13-9 on Dec. 1 to put the Mountaineers out of the national title game, the game will not end each team’s regular season. On Dec. 6, Pitt finishes at Connecticut, while West Virginia plays South Florida at home.

Pitt and West Virginia also played on the Friday following Thanksgiving in 1997, 1998 and 2000, with the 1998 and 2000 games at Three Rivers Stadium. Pitt staged a 41-38, three-overtime upset at West Virginia in 1997.

The conference schedule was announced by the Big East.

Date Opponent Time

Aug. 30 Bowling Green TBA

Sept. 6 Buffalo TBA

Sept. 20 Iowa TBA

Sept. 27 at Syracuse* TBA

Oct. 2 (Thurs.) at USF* (ESPN) TBA

Oct. 18 at Navy TBA

Oct. 25 Rutgers* TBA

Nov. 1 at Notre Dame (NBC) 2:30 p.m.

Nov. 8 Louisville* TBA

Nov. 22 at Cincinnati* TBA

Nov. 28 (Fri.) West Virginia* (ABC) TBA

Dec. 6 at Connecticut* (ESPN/ESPN2) TBA

Don’t expect a lot of late starts. ESPN Regional will likely pick up a bunch of the games.

Oddly enough, I felt better about this game than any other in a while. I’m not happy about the outcome, but there was enough to encourage me rather than just make me crazy.

In Fields’ 3d game back, the offense had much better flow. Only 4 turnovers, 18 assists and the ball was worked inside more. DeJuan Blair saw a lot more touches in better spots better shots. From inside the arc, Pitt was 23-44. Considering how badly Pitt has been struggling with scoring and shooting, going for nearly 45% against one of the best defensive teams in the country is a positive.

I’m bothered that DeJuan Blair keeps losing his man at the top — over and over again. With Pitt’s lack of size, there’s no one that can handle the opposing big man dropping down. The only good thing is that there aren’t many big men that are actually threats to shoot from outside as the players Blair has had to defend in the past week plus. The defense did get 7 steals and helped create 14 turnovers. Pitt limited their possessions, but gave up plenty of easy baskets and open looks.

I can’t believe how poor and inconsistent the perimeter shooting has been. Is it any shock to know that when Pitt has shot below 33.3% on the perimeter Pitt is 0-6 in the Big East? Pitt doesn’t need to be unstoppable from outside. They just need to be a threat. The ball was kicked out more this time rather than just passed along the perimeter. The open looks didn’t help, though.

Family obligations, that I vainly tried to get out of are completely taking me away from the house today.

The meme out of Louisville is that last season, beating Pitt at the Pete was the start of turning around their season. Now it’s about maintaining their run.

Well, for those of you who don’t live in the Pittsburgh area — where the game is on WTAE — or have the ESPN Full Court package, here’s the list of TV stations showing the Louisville-Pitt game tomorrow.

WCTX (Hartford, Conn.), Charter-St. Louis (St. Louis), WTTV (Indianapolis), WMYS (South Bend, Ind.), WAZE (Evansville, Ind.), Cox New Orleans (New Orleans), MASN (Baltimore/Washington, D.C.), WBGR (Bangor, Maine), MSG (New York), Time Warner (Buffalo, Albany, Rochester, Syracuse), Catch 47 (Tampa/St. Petersburg), WWHO (Columbus, Ohio), WKRC (Cincinnati), WHAS (Louisville), WRGT-DT2 (Dayton), ETVW (Madison, Wis.), WTOV (Wheeling, W.Va.), WTAE (Pittsburgh), WHP-DT (Harrisburg, Pa.), WQMY (Wilkes-Barre, Pa.), WHVL (Johnstown, Pa.), Cox New England (Providence), WMLW (Milwaukee), Metro Sports (Kansas City), WOAY (Bluefield, W.Va.), WVFX (Clarkesburg, W.Va.), WTAP-DT2 (Parkersburg, W.Va.), WACY (Green Bay), WMME (Chicago), WPHL (Philadelphia).

Seth Davis at SI.com is picking Pitt — oh no.

Those adjustments have spurred their current stretch of winning nine of their last 10, including six straight. The question here is whether they can do those things on the road against a good, physical team that is in dire need of a quality win — Pittsburgh comes in having lost its last two to fall to 7-6 in the Big East. Junior point guard Levance Fields, who missed eight weeks with a broken foot, is still two or three weeks away from getting his old form back. He looked pretty sharp in Thursday night’s loss at Notre Dame (10 points, five assists in 25 minutes off the bench). Now that he has a couple of games under his belt, I think he’ll give the Panthers just enough of a lift to win.

The loss to ND is still on my mind. Whether it’s simply about getting that final win to feel comfortable about making the NCAA, or how pissed some of the players were afterwards.

“It just slipped away from us,” Blair said. “I don’t know what’s going on with this team. I don’t know. We’ve got to find out quick. That’s two losses. I’ve never lost back-to-back in my life.”

The players know they have to get it all together today.

“We’re going to get them on Sunday,” Blair said. “That’s all I’m looking for right now. Playing hard and getting that win on Sunday. I’m not guaranteeing nothing or saying nothing. I just want it. That’s all.”

…

“Notre Dame is in the books,” Benjamin said. “There’s nothing we can do. The ‘L’ is there. We’re just going to go home. When we get off the plane in Pittsburgh, that loss is over.

“Now, the focus is on Louisville.”

Keith Benjamin has apparently decided that as a senior and the struggles of the team means it is time for him to speak to and for the team and step up.

“It’s vocal leadership, it’s doing the right things,” Benjamin said. “I have to make the right plays on the court, so everyone else sees that. I’m disappointed in myself. It beats me up that I’ve been here for four years and haven’t take a charge. Those are the things we need to do better. We have to take charges, we need to get rebounds, box out, make the smart pass. When we do that we win. I’m looking forward doing everything that will help us win. Scoring those points hasn’t helped us, so I’m going to have to do other things. I have to get rebounds, take charges. That’s what I’m going to do.”

For Benjamin and the rest of his teammates, the noon tip-off tomorrow can’t come soon enough.

“I want at it right now,” he said. “Trust me, I want this so bad. It’s going to happen. We’re playing a very hot team, a very tough team in Louisville. We’re in the Pete. We want everyone in Pittsburgh not to give up and to show up on Sunday ready to rock the building. That’s what we need right now.”

It seems Fields might be starting for the game.

Fields, who has come off the bench the past two games after sitting out nearly seven weeks with a fractured bone in his left foot, went through a full practice yesterday without any problems after playing 25 minutes in the 82-70 loss at Notre Dame Thursday night.

“He looks good,” Pitt coach Jamie Dixon said. “That was good to see. We went light [Friday]. It was good to see him go full [yesterday]. I thought he looked good the other day and played well. The process has gone as expected. It’s going exactly as we thought. We’ll figure out [today] who we’re going to start. We’ll see how he responds to practice.”

To some extent it will be about controlling the what kind of runs Louisville gets on and how Pitt responds.

Damn. Damn. Damn. Damn.

Here’s the Cliff’s notes summary of what happened in that second half/final 12 minutes.

• Notre Dame was 2-12 on 3s in the first half, and 6-12 in the second.
• Pitt 5-13 on 3s in the first, 2-12 in the second.
• Pitt let up on defense to allow ND to really get out in transition to allow quick scores
• Free throw differential — specifically Harangody 7-8 vs. Blair 2-7
• Tory frickin’ Jackson.
• Guard scoring. Pitt got 17 points in the first half from Benjamin, Fields and Wanamaker; 9 points in the second half
• ND guards had 11 in the first and 28 in the second half.
• 2nd chance points — ND 17, Pitt 9

Now to the notes.

1st half

Early in the game, Rob Kurz had 7 of the first 11 points for ND. Sam Young didn’t exactly come out fired up to play defense.

An excellent job by Pitt to keep Notre Dame from getting out on transition. To the Irish’s credit, they showed a fair amount of patience and moving the ball around to get a good shot. Especially working it inside.

ND’s 3s not falling in the first half, but they were good about attacking the basket. Or at least Tory Jackson was.

DeJuan Blair will probably be the biggest beneficiary of Levance Fields getting healthy. It’s been a struggle to get the ball to Blair with consistency since Fields went down. There are already glimpses as the ball is coming inside to him better — on the money and less fumbling for it.

Fields looked a little bit sharper than in the Marquette game — thankfully. Still has some rust, but showing a little more confidence.

The missed 3s by ND in the first half were huge. eFG% by Pitt was 50% while ND was only 38.2%.

2nd half

Early in the second half: “Ramon can’t buy a bucket, but McAlarney struggling cancels it out — for now.”

At about the 13:50 mark: “Pitt goes up by 11, but slips on defense allowing ND one of their few quick scores out of transition”

When Blair missed those two free throws at the 11:40 mark, Pitt gave up another quick score and promptly turned the ball over and ND capitalized. That sequence made it a 4 point game and brought the crowd back into it. It had the effect home court should have. The Irish picked up their intensity on both ends.

Even then, Pitt still was in the game. But then McAlarney and ND hit their groove on the 3s when they nailed 4 of 5 in a 3 minute stretch to tie and take the game away from Pitt. Pitt turned the ball over on back to back possessions — on the ND end.

Even as Pitt might have had a chance to keep it from getting away, Pitt blew the opportunity. Blair made a great rebound and fed a wide open Young who just plain blew a wide open dunk that would have brought the game back to within 3. Instead ND got it and scored again. That blown dunk will haunt Pitt fans for a while.
It is worth noting that Harangody — despite being a beast inside — is a hell of a whiner when he doesn’t get a call. His own coach had to yell at him as he came within a hair of being T’d up for what he was saying to the ref.

6:50 pm: About 10 minutes from tip off. Settle in here for tonight’s game, which we’re hoping goes a bit better than last Friday.

7:09 pm: ESPN’s “Greatest Highlight” is stupid and annoying, much like “Who’s Now?” was. Early in the game we have Sam Young burying a three (he takes too many deep shots) as well as DeJuan Blair challenging and scoring on Harangody then blocking a layup at the opposite end.

Watch out for Torre Jackson. He grabs boards and just blocked Blair — and stands only 5′ 11″.

ND wants to run and play up-tempo and Pitt is going to play a long, drawn out halfcourt game to stop that high pace. They average 80.3 points per game — Pitt usually doesn’t win games that reach high scores like that.

7:15 pm: Levance Fields is on the court but he saw limited time in practice this week so his minutes will be few. He still a little slow and not et comfortable to go with the Bronx style crossover we know him for. It’s the move that gets him by defenders all the time and opened up that shot for him against Duke. Hopefully he gets it back sooner rather than later but it won’t come without practice and getting back in basketball shape.

Ramon hasn’t shot too well yet, and the entire team has thrown up plenty of bricks.

7:18 pm: Can someone please please please make a basket?!? Sure it’s nice to grab 3 offensive rebounds on one possession but it’s better to put the damn ball in the hoop.

7:23 pm: DeJuan Blair hits a jumper and keeps the team’s FG% from dipping below 20%.

Ramon is ice cold and rightfully on the bench. In past games, even when he struggled, he had to stay in because there was no one to replace him. Nice to have fresh bodies (though Fields isn’t really too fresh).

The defense is shaky at best. No one is hustling and really being physical like Pitt basketball teams are known for.

7:31 pm: Absolutely beautiful fundamental play by Gil Brown — he misses the three (and might have been fouled) but as soon as he lets go of the ball he sprints toward the hoop for the rebound and the put-back basket. Only the shooter knows where a ball is probably going to bounce after a miss and he read and reacted very well to his missed shot.

Note to Paul Rhoads: read and react is good in basketball, not so much in football.

7:34 pm: Blair isn’t in the game, so a reminder: don’t throw your remote through your TV while watching Harangody demolish Gary McGhee.

7:39 pm: Fields is seeing a lot more PT than I thought he would after missing time in practice. Gil Brown with another nice job finding a hole and hitting the jump/float shot.

Pitt gets a break as Blair gets stuffed and a bad foul call is made. They’re letting the teams play more than most refs will allow — I’d rather watch a physical game rather than one where fouls are called every possession.

7:53 pm: Where Pitt grabs plenty of o-rebounds, ND grabs a nice amount too but actually capitalizes on them with by making baskets and free throws. It’s really a novel concept.

At the half, Keith Benjamin leads our scorers with 10. Fields looks like he’s slowly getting more comfortable while Ramon has thrown up bricks. Sam Young finds a way to frustrate me once again, this time by not making an extra pass and instead throwing up a poor shot. Selfishness? I don’t think I’d go there yet, but it’s certainly not helping the team as a whole. I’m impressed by Gilbert Brown so far tonight; slowly, that experiecne he’s gained is paying off.

Luke Harangody is (expectedly) winning the battle against DeJuan Blair, although some of his 12 points came while abusing Gary McGhee. At this point, Blair has zero (!) personal fouls against him, so don’t complain that he can’t be aggressive because he’s playing with fouls. He better be attacking the hell out of Harangody in the second half. No more dumb excuses.

All told, I’m happy to lead by 5 at the half.

Pitt 35 Notre Dame 30 — Halftime

8:02 pm: So Blair gets the ball, takes it to Harangody, makes the basketball and gets fouled. For more of my crystal ball reading, see above paragraph.

8:05 pm: Three minutes into the second half and Blair has manages to double his point total and get Harangody to the bench. Well done, DeJuan.

8:10 pm: Aw freakin’ crap. The ghost of Chris Quinn, known Pitt killer by draining threes against us all the time, has come back to haunt us. This time under the guise of Rob Kurz and Kyle McAlarney. A nice lead disappeared relatively quickly. Somewhere, Chas is probably tossing back some exotic beer. Me? Red and blue Jolly Ranchers are my pain killer of choice.

8:21 pm: The shooting has definitely picked up here in the second half. We’re still getting plenty of offensive rebounds but this time Tyrell Biggs hit both foul shots. Benjamin, with the “Ronald Ramon Sweet Three Point Stroke From 2 Years Ago” is hitting his open shots, while Ramon, ironically, is not.

8:24 pm: That is the exact type of foul that kills Blair. After ND grabs a rebound and they’re moving the ball up the court to set up an offense, Blair inexplicably reaches in and gets called. Stupid, stupid, stupid.

8:30 pm: Tory Jackson, you annoy me. You’re shorter than I am and yet you have a double-double with 10 points and 11 rebounds. Ah…

8:32 pm: ND has finally figured out our weakness — defending back screens and back-door passes. Tory Jackson strikes again, lead only at three.

8:39 pm: Kyle McAlarney’s best impression of Chris Quinn, hitting a three from the logo + another McAlarney three + Harangody steal and huge dunk + Sam Young turnover = 100% of the momentum towards Notre Dame. The last 45 seconds might be the turning point for the worse.

8:45 pm: Sam Young COMPLETELY botched a wide open dunk. COMPLETELY blew it. That’s embarrassing, and I know for a fact this is not the first time he has missed wide open dunks.

And if we’re down 5 points on the road in a critical moment, Ronald Ramon is not the guy I want bringing the ball down the court.

8:48 pm: Hey Sam, bricking a three point shot from the corner is not going to help make up for getting rejected by the rim. We’re down 11 now…

8:54 pm: With just over a minute to go, Pitt is already starting to foul and extend the game. Too bad ND actually makes their free throws.

8:58 pm: So Pitt comes out so strong after the half only to collapse late in the game. Reviews and recaps sure to come.

Notre Dame 82 Pitt 70 — Final 

I’m not going to be able to liveblog the game. I know, I haven’t done a liveblog in a while. I’m very frustrated by this. The good news, Dennis will be able to handle the reins.

Technically this could be a double header. HS basketball follows the game on ESPN. It will have St. Anthony’s which has Pitt commit, guard Travon Woodall.

Black and Green blog seems fairly confident about this game. I’ve seen ND more than usual this year. Harangody is a solid beast with surprisingly good touch. He’s steady and reliable for around 20 points and 10 rebounds give or take almost every game. He’s also a very good free throw shooter. Oddly, he’s not the key to a win for ND.

It comes down more to the perimeter players — especially Kyle McAlarney. In games they have lost, the perimeter shooters have struggled or been shut down. Essentially, Harangody will get his regardless so it’s up to stopping the guards.

Big East Blog actually picks Pitt for the upset and stopping the Irish home winning streak.

Pitt’s biggest advantage is probably at the forwars position where the need a big game from Sam Young. The athletic but sometimes enigmatic Young will be matched up against ROb Kurz, a very solid player that can take advantage of any mental lapses Young might suffer. If Young is on his game and motivated from start to finish, he has the ability to carry the Panthers to a win against nearly anyone in this league, especially if Blair is out of foul trouble and the guards give some support from the perimeter.

That 34-game home winning streak has been impressive, but I have tended to dismiss them — especially last year — because of their major struggles away from South Bend. I do have to concede they are better than I thought once they showed they could win some road games.

Notre Dame, though, is trying to use the fact that they have lost 5 straight games to Pitt. Even if the two teams haven’t met in over 2 years. That last game was one Pitt won in double-OT 100-97. And I love how the South Bend Tribune characterized it.

Tonight, in front of a national television audience, Pittsburgh makes its first appearance at the Joyce Center since March 5, 2005. It will be the first time the teams have been on the same court in 777 days, since Chris Quinn scored 37 points to single-handedly carry the Irish in a 100-97 double-overtime loss on Jan. 4, 2006.

[Emphasis added.]

Rebounding will be a factor.

The Irish lead the league in rebounding offense (43.4). No team in the 16-team conference is better than the Panthers in rebounding defense (32.2). Notre Dame ranks first in the league in rebounding margin (plus-8.5). Pittsburgh is second at (plus-6.6).

Pitt will have to be better on the glass than they were against Marquette.

It’s likely ND will be down one bench player that gives them nearly 13 minutes and 4 points. Jonathan Peoples will likely be out with the flu. Hmmm. It seems to be going around the Irish team.

As for Pitt. Well, Blair’s banged up a bit but confident.

So, when X-rays taken Monday revealed the extent of a sprained MCL in his left knee, the freshman held no reservations about his status for Thursday’s game at No. 21 Notre Dame.

“It was nothing major,” Blair said. “It was just a little sprain. If it ain’t torn, I ain’t worried about it.”

The team actually had 12 bodies for practice this week.

“We had a good practice today and we were able to do some things [because] we had more bodies than we’ve had probably in two months,” head coach Jamie Dixon said after practice. “Cassin [Diggs] was able to practice today, which I was surprised by, and we had our three walk-ons here today. That gave us twelve guys, and we were able to do some stuff that we weren’t able to do in two months; so that was encouraging.”

In addition to playing with a dozen players, the Panthers’ Tuesday practice was also one of the longest of the season; by all accounts, it was also an intense workout, presumably aimed at bouncing back from Friday night’s 18-point defeat.

“Guys really wanted to get after it today after the loss to Marquette,” senior guard Ronald Ramon said. “We wanted to respond and we wanted to come out with intensity and get after it the way we we’re used to and get on track.”

Hopefully.

The last time DeJuan Blair went up against a very good big man, he dominated Roy Hibbert in a Pitt win. Tomorrow against Notre Dame he gets the chance to do the same against Luke Harangody, who is being considered for Big East POTY honors.

“I like to step up to challenges,” Blair said after practice yesterday.

“I look [at] every game as a challenge, but this is a bigger challenge. It will be like Georgetown. It’s going to be fun. I love it.”

Blair practiced yesterday for the first time since spraining his left knee against Marquette but said he is definitely going to play against the Fighting Irish.

So he’s pumped up to play, but how well will he play?

The success or failure of Pitt in this game is going to be greatly determined by which DeJuan Blair shows up to play. Will the Blair who scored 15 on Georgetown’s Roy Hibbert show up? Or will it be the Blair who has missed lay-up after lay-up since? On defense, will it be the Blair who held Hibbert to only 7 field goal attempts and is 3rd in the Big East in steals? Or will it be the Blair who sits on the bench for most of the game because of freshmen fouls outside the three point arc?

When Blair went down with the knee injury on Friday, I immediately thought “aw crap, we we’re down to two starters”. Getting injured against probably his toughest head-to-head matchup of the year is not good. Expect Harangody to go at Blair even tougher if he is limping around. The obvious sign of weakness would certainly be exploited by Mike Brey. (Quickly: Brey is not in the same category as Calhoun or Boehiem, but do we hate him?)

Harangody is more dominant on the offensive side of the ball compared to Blair, but Blair is the better defender. That is not to say that either guy doesn’t play both sides of the ball well. Where Harangody averages nearly double the points/game that Blair does, DeJuan has more blocks and steals and they have similar averages on the boards. (Full and beautiful stat comparison here.)

I thought that Hibbert would be Blair’s biggest challenge this season. Instead, Harangody and the entire ND team have come from seemingly nowhere and performed high above expectations. Harangody’s improvement has been surprising, and he now looks like the guy who will give DeJuan the most trouble.

“He’s really an interesting player,” Pitt coach Jamie Dixon said. “He does some things that are unconventional in the post, the way he plays offensively and defensively. He can score facing the basket and on the block. He uses his quick feet. He’s similar to DeJuan in a lot of ways. He’s improved since he was a freshman, and we’ll see the same kind of improvements in DeJuan [next season]. He’s a guy to emulate because of his improvement.”

And if Blair improves even slightly (very likely since he’s only an 18-year-old who hasn’t reached his full potential yet…we hope) then watch out. For my money, he’s more valuable to the team that Aaron Gray ever was.