It wasn’t a hard halftime adjustment. Frankly, it’s been the successful game plan for most teams facing Notre Dame, as I noted yesterday.

The scouting report is simple. You stay one-on-one with Harangody — he’s going to get his double-double — but completely shadow Kyle McAlarney. Keep him from getting free and dare anyone else on Notre Dame to beat you.

I was simply shocked that Coach Dixon avoided that as a gameplan in the first place. I suppose it was out of fear that DeJuan Blair would get in foul trouble, but doubling down on Luke Harangody is a recipe for disaster. Pitt did stay tight on Kyle McAlarney, but they kept leaving Notre Dame open and Luke Zeller and Ryan Ayers made Pitt pay.

The difference in the second half was stark. Notre Dame had no open threes without a double on Harangody. You can argue that the first half game plan put Harangody in a bad place mentally, but he scored 19 on 9-15 shooting in the second half, so not really. Harangody scored more than half the 35 points ND had in that half. Why? Because ND had no space on the perimeter. They only attempted 5 threes in the second half.

ND has no defense, and Pitt killed them with it. So, let’s temper the enthusiasm with the offense. It looked great, but ND tends to make most offenses look pretty good.

Other Notes: A smart use of timeouts in the second half by Dixon to rest Fields and Blair. He called a TO with 13 minutes left. Took out Blair and Fields, with Pitt leading by ten. Pitt’s offense went into slowdown mode, but efficient. In fact, the back-ups did real well with their assignments. They kept things moving and the media timeout didn’t happen until 10:22 rather than the 12 minute mark. With the media break, they got a good 5 minute rest halfway through the second half.

Blair really enjoys going against other top bigmen. One part is competition. The other, is that they get to bang and no cheap fouls.  Harangody may have outscored Blair 27-23, but no one who watched the game thinks that Harangody got the better of Blair. Blair had 22 rebounds and completely frustrated Harangody.

I like Len Elmore as a color analyst, but for god’s sakes man, Jermaine Dixon is a starter not a bench player.

On the subject of Jermaine Dixon. He just seems to get better the deeper into games. More in the flow, and feeling the game more. He has a different enthusiasm for the game than Blair. It’s more intensity and passion than smiling and joy of the game, but it is no less infectious.

Ashton Gibbs enjoys his open looks, and would like to play a team like ND that allows that many more often.

Sam Young is definitely still in a slump. One good half against WV has not changed it. He’s struggling with his shot and seems unsure when he should be attacking. Too often in the first half, he is settling for jumpers, then trying to overcompensate in the second half.

I had it all planned out. Get things done in the morning. Run a couple errands and have things well-situated that I would be home by 11. Settle in for a full day of basketball action and kick it off with a liveblog of the ND-Pitt game.

Yeah, about that. Around 5:30 or so, the daughter comes into our room. Gets on the bed and tells us she isn’t feeling well. At that point she provides a graphic demonstration. All over the bed. Sigh.

So, there is a belated open thread and I’m already some 20 minutes behind watching. So I’m on DVR delay.

The good thing about both of Pitt’s losses this season. There hasn’t been a lot of time to between the loss and the next game. Notre Dame tomorrow at noon. I expect it to be tough. The Domers have lost four straight. They have to be desperate. The scouting report is simple. You stay one-on-one with Harangody — he’s going to get his double-double — but completely shadow Kyle McAlarney. Keep him from getting free and dare anyone else on Notre Dame to beat you.

I guess in the big picture, it’s good for the Big East that Villanova got the big win. They were severely lacking in quality wins, so that helps their NCAA Tournament resume.

Bad shooting in the second half — yes, techincally, Pitt shot a decent 9-20 but they were 0-8 on 3s — was created in no small part by settling too much for jump shots. Credit the ‘Nova defense with a good portion of that. They really locked down in the second half to stop the penetration.

The other part of the problem for too much jump shooting was no one inside with Blair hit with foul troubles. Only one foul upset me as being a weak call. The bigger problem was Blair not being smart when drawn outside. It’s one thing to bump a bit inside, especially against another big guy. It is something very different to be out in space from the basket and knocking a guard off.

There is still no reason to panic. I do wish the team would show more in adjusting to how the refs are calling the game. The team is saying the right things, but they actually have to do it.

I need a laugh and the Rice Owl Mascot provides it by being ejected from last night’s Tulane-Rice game.

Watch at about the 1:40 mark you can see Sammy put his head into Curtis Shaw’s.

My back is killing me from shoveling multiple times today. To say nothing of having the kids and wife home with all the snow.

Just going to kick back a little mellower with some Makers Mark and (hopefully) enjoy the game.

I’ll put some thoughts in at halftime.

HALFTIME: Pitt leads 31-26.

No complaints. Pitt lost Blair to the feared foul trouble with over 8 minutes until the half. ‘Nova had a surge, but Pitt answered. Gilbert Brown sparked the surge in the final couple minutes to kepp Pitt ahead.

When Blair went out, it took about 2 minutes of game play before Pitt got back in control on the pace. They really let the game speed up and that hurt.

I would have called goaltending on Cunningham’s first block, but I’m admittedly biased. The second one was Nasir Robinson not finishing strong. He just wasn’t that far ahead of the pack to flick that up and under.

That said, Robinson took a great charge in the middle of the first half as he and Wanamaker were surprisingly effective. Wanamaker, especially, was on fire. After years of seeing the NYC kids struggle when going home to play St. John’s it was a little odd to see the Philly kids show their stuff.

Jermaine Dixon has done a number on Scotty Reynolds. Even when out or not on him, Reynolds looked unsure.

All things considered, given the foul problems for the inside guys, not too bad to be up 5.

There’s a very annoying reason why the game isn’t on ESPN360 (at least I’m pretty sure this is the reason). ESPN is still pushing for cable companies to take ESPNU. So games on the U are not going to be put on 360, to piss off fans and demand their cable providers offer it.

Expect more than a few replays of Christian Laetnner’s shot to knock off Kentucky in the NCAA Tournament tonight. Along with flashbacks to Bobby Knight winning national championships at Indiana. The Spectrum hosted those.

For Pitt, it will be the second and last time playing at the place. Naturally the Philly players are hyped. They’d be hyped anyways because of going to play before family and friends.

“I always wanted to play on that floor in a real-live game,” said Pitt freshman forward and Chester native Nasir Robinson. “This week I will have a chance.”

The trip also is a homecoming for sophomore guard Brad Wanamaker, a former star at Philadelphia Roman Catholic High who is expecting at least 25 family and friends.

“It’s very exciting,” Wanamaker said, “especially going back to my hometown to play in a historical gym like that.”

This will be the first time Wanamaker steps inside the Spectrum. Robinson, who grew up about 20 miles outside Philadelphia, took part in a basketball camp across the parking lot, at the Wachovia Center, about five years ago.

“It’s a chance to go home and play in front of my family and friends and play on that floor in the last game,” Robinson said. “It’s going to be a good feeling.”

It has been nearly 18 years since Pitt made its only visit to the Spectrum, losing to Villanova, 75-72, on Jan. 30, 1991.

Even though, this is Wanamaker’s second time going home with Pitt, this means more.

“Last year, I was part of the team,” he said. “This year, I’m part of the rotation.”

All nice, Pitt, though, is facing Villanova not the Spectrum. ‘Nova coach Jay Wright is trying to downplay it for his kids — for now.

“I don’t think our players understand, and I’m not talking to them about it until after the game,” Wright, speaking yesterday before practice at the Spectrum, said.

“I really want them to concentrate on Pitt. We really want them to concentrate on 94 by 50 feet; that’s what we talk about. So I haven’t talked to them about it at all. But after the game, I will talk to them about, ‘Hey, you’ll [remember] this for the rest of your lives, with this building hosting all these great games and events.’ “

The perceptions don’t change, even if the personnel does. Pitt is a tough, grinding, defensive, ugly team according to the script.

Big East hoops is hardly a neighborhood for the meek. Most of the time, you put on your gloves knowing it could well go the full 15 rounds.

It’s a grind, physically and between the ears. There’s little choice but to embrace the mud and get filthy.

Perhaps no program personifies that as much as Pittsburgh. It began under the leadership of Ben Howland, and has continued for the past six seasons under his former lead assistant, Jamie Dixon. It seems like every Panthers’ game resembles rugby. They don’t mind a little contact. Or even a bunch. Have you seen DeJuan Blair operate down low?

Anyway, it suits their character. And has served them well.

Sure Pitt has more athleticism, can score more, and shoots better. The core identity remains.

Just as Villanova under Jay Wright is not just guard oriented, but all guards.

The Wildcats, 3-3 in Big East play, have the type of personnel that can pose problems for Pitt. They have tremendous guard play with Scottie Reynolds and Corey Stokes, who average in double figures and are dangerous outside shooters. Stokes is shooting 45 percent from 3-point range and Reynolds 37 percent.

“The names have changed, but their style of play and what they do are the same,” Pitt coach Jamie Dixon said. “They have guards who can take you off the dribble and undersized big guys that play bigger, can score around the basket and can step out. They play very hard. They’re aggressive and they’re well-coached.”

Villanova coach Jay Wright brings another guard, Corey Fisher (9.9 points per game), off the bench.

“They have tough guards,” Robinson said. “Villanova is always known for tough guards.”

But as we know, the reality for ‘Nova is also not quite that simple now that Dante Cunningham has emerged.

Dante Cunningham, a 6-foot-8, 230-pound senior, is outscoring all of the Wildcats’ heralded guards and giving Villanova a rare inside scoring threat.

“They are not so guard-oriented anymore,” Pitt’s Brad Wanamaker said. “They have a big man. We’ve got to worry about not just the outside but the inside as well.”

No. 3 Pitt (18-1, 6-1) will play No. 21 Villanova (15-4, 3-3) at 7 tonight in the final collegiate basketball game at the 41-year-old Spectrum.

Cunningham averaged 7.1 points per game in his first three seasons at Villanova, contributing more with rebounding and smothering defense. This season, he is more aggressive and has nearly doubled his scoring average from last year, up to 16.6 points per game.

“We wanted him to be a little more assertive,” Wright said earlier this season. “We need him to be a go-to guy.”

Not since 6-10 power forward Michael Bradley in 2000-01 — the year before Wright arrived — has a front-court player led the Wildcats in scoring.

For some reason, Antonio Pena is being overlooked as the other emerging inside presence. The sophomore is still raw but is averaging 9 points and over 6 boards in Big East play. He also shoots just under 50%.

Sam Young took home Big East Player of the Week Honors.

Tyrell Biggs’ knee appears to be fine after an X-ray showed nothing. Pitt is also planning ahead for exempt non-con tournaments:

Dixon said yesterday that the Panthers will play in an exempt early season tournament at The Palestra in Philadelphia.

Pitt will play in exempt tournaments in the fall and in 2010. The Panthers will play in the Guardians Classic in Kansas City in November and in the Coaches vs. Cancer Classic at Madison Square Garden the following year.

Good to know it wasn’t just tutoring with his brother Juan that helped Jermaine Dixon with his shooting.

“I feel comfortable in my shot,” Dixon said following Sunday’s game. “I feel more comfortable with my shot than I did at the beginning of the year.”

Additional work with Pitt’s assistant coaches has helped Dixon make six three-pointers over the past three games.

Working with his brother, no doubt helped, and did something for his mental side. It’s just good when the coaches — you know, coach.

It also helps shooting confidence to know that there is someone who can clean things up.

Pitt ranks eighth among NCAA Division I teams. The Panthers average 15.8 offensive rebounds per game. Only West Virginia (16.0) averages more among Big East Conference teams. Hofstra leads with 16.9 per game.

At Pitt, offensive rebounding always has been a tradition. Whether it was Jerome Lane from those teams in the late 1980s or modern-day players such as Chevon Troutman and Aaron Gray, getting extra possessions from missed shots has been part of Pitt’s formula for success on offense.

“It always has been [important],” coach Jamie Dixon said. “We emphasized it for years. It’s always been a big part of what we do. I think DeJuan has taken it to another level with what he does on the glass.”

But Blair isn’t the only one who is contributing offensive rebounds. Starting power forward Tyrell Biggs has 48 and small forward Sam Young has 38.

They have helped make Pitt a difficult team in which to play. When opponents prepare for Pitt they have to game plan knowing that the Panthers rebound on 40.6 percent of their misses, which is a startling number to comprehend.

They’ll need to do a good job on rebounding tonight. It keeps the pace in control and won’t let Villanova get out in transition and try to speed up the game.

A few stories worth noting.

A list of top candidates for coach of the year.

5. Jamie Dixon, Pitt. Nobody has done a better job of establishing a culture that focuses on the team. In the game today, this is an astonishing achievement. And that 17-1 record isn’t bad, either.

Which is also why ex-coaches like Bob Knight love the Pitt team.

In the periodic looking towards how Arizona is coping, there seems to be a growing belief that they could not get Dixon.

As for the next coach in Tucson, Greg has thrown out some pretty good names, but out of those three, only Few strikes me as realistic. I really believe Louisville will be Rick Pitino‘s last coaching job. He has moved around too many times in his life, he has plenty of money, and he has a good quality of life that includes living next to the family of his late brother-in-law Billy Minardi. Jamie Dixon is an understandably popular choice, and I would imagine if Arizona could hire him they’d do it lickety split. But even though Dixon is from California and his wife is from Hawaii, he is in a great situation at Pittsburgh, where he has built phenomenal recruiting inroads into New York, New Jersey and Washington, D.C. Also, when Arizona State tried to hire him two years ago, Dixon renegotiated his contract with Pittsburgh, and I’m told his buyout is extremely expensive.

We’re still two months away from Arizona’s search kicking into high gear, but besides Mark Few and Dixon, the names I’m hearing come up most often are Reggie Theus, Lon Kruger and Tubby Smith. And here’s a pair of sleepers for you I just heard this week: Oliver Purnell and Frank Haith. So stay tuned, Arizona fans, and don’t lose hope.

Tubby Smith’s name is coming up more and more. Though, that may be as much wishlisting as anything else. Getting Purnell from Clemson or Haith from Miami also makes sense. Both are at schools in a basketball conference but at football schools where the fans just don’t turn out very well.

Heresy alert. In complimenting Jermaine Dixon’s work on defense. Well…

5. Pitt. The addition of junior college transfer Jermaine Dixon — brother of former Maryland great Juan Dixon — has given the Panthers perhaps their best-ever perimeter defender. Julius Page was terrific, but Dixon is quicker, has longer arms and better hands. In Syracuse’s game against Louisville, it looked as though Orange guard Jonny Flynn was still feeling the effects of the number Dixon did on him.

Is that blasphemy?

So, if Pitt could make a trade for a late season pick-up this wouldn’t be a bad choice.

Biggest deficiency: We know the Panthers are one of the toughest defensive teams in the country. They’re ranked third nationally in rebound margin (+9.9) and they lead the Big East in field goal percentage defense (38.0 percent). Even though Pitt excels at a grind-it-out style, it’s impressive that the Panthers are still managing to score more than 77 points per game. The problem is, they have to work too hard to earn those points, partly because they’re only making 6.4 threes per game. What this team needs is a sniper to come off the bench, nail a few long-range jumpers and give the defense a little more breathing room.

Missing piece: Jimmy Baron, 6-3 senior guard, Rhode Island

Ask Mike Krzyzewski whether Baron can hit long-range jumpers. (The Jigsaw Man did. Coach K said, “Yes, he can.”) The kid only made 8 for 10 from behind the arc and almost shot the Rams to a victory in Cameron Indoor Stadium in November. Baron is both a high-volume and high-percentage shooter (he’s ranked 13th nationally in three-point percentage at 45.1 percent). He’s not a great defender, but he does have good size and experience. Plus, he’s a coach’s son (his dad is the head coach at Rhode Island), so he knows how to be a good teammate.

Finally, a personal look at Pitt’s headliner for the 2009 recruiting class, Dante Taylor.

Taylor left behind the comforts of home at the age of 14, when tiny National Christian Academy in Fort Washington, Md., decided to gamble on the potential he displayed on and off the basketball court. Over the last four years, there has been a steady social and academic growth.

He is almost ready to move on again.

“In the beginning, coming here was hard for me,” Taylor said last week by phone. “But at the end of the day, it was the right thing.”

There were many sleepless nights in between.

“For a parent, it was a very difficult decision to make,” his mother, Lisa Sharpe, said with mixed emotions. “Especially at that age, but he just wasn’t focused. When the opportunity came to get out of here, it was for the best. It was hard to let him go, but it was a wise decision that’s paid off. He’s grown as a young man. We’re very proud of Dante.”

The next stop for Taylor is the University of Pittsburgh.

He gave an oral commitment in July and signed a letter of intent in November, and only needs a qualifying score on the SAT or ACT to continue on his newfound path.

“It was definitely worth the move,” Taylor said. “I wouldn’t be going to college otherwise.”

His intent is to get to Pitt in the summer session to get an early start. Please get that qualifying test score before enrolling.

Another thing that I’ve gotten away from for a while. The exchange of questions with an opponent blogger.  Chris from the I Bleed Blue and White blog contacted me and we exchanged questions about Wednesday game. You can find my responses to his questions here. This is what he had to say to me.

1. Scottie Reynolds, a junior at ‘Nova. Amazing. It seems he is always on the cusp of greatness and ready to go to the NBA, but is just not quite there. His numbers haven’t changed dramatically in each season, but this season there seems to be a more balanced team around him so he doesn’t have to carry the full load. Especially with Pena and Cunningham inside.

Is that reality? Or is it still, ultimately about what Reynolds can do?

It seems so long ago that Reynolds was lighting it up as a freshman. Without being too harsh, it does seem as though he has never met the expectations he put on himself. It would be a shock if he left early for the NBA (something that seemed inevitable after his freshman year). With the emergence of other players on the team such as Corey Fisher, Corey Stokes, Dwayne Anderson and especially Dante Cunningham, Villanova has been able to win games even when Reynolds hasn’t been putting up 20 points.

He’s been put (or put himself) in a role where he is playing a more distributive role. Even though he had 40 against Seton Hall, it seems as though the days of that are long gone. As Corey Fisher matures though you’ll see Reynolds playing more off the ball, where’s he most dangerous. That’s when you’ll see Villanova reach its potential.

2. Almost 1/3 of Villanova’s shots are from the perimeter. Does it seem like the guards are taking more or less of their shots from outside versus driving to the basket? Is there a bit more driving and dishing with Cunningham in full (healthy) bloom and Pena’s growth? Is this a more balanced ‘Nova team than the past couple years or is it still all about the guards? I’m trying to get a better feel for the way the Wildcats play this year.

Cunningham may be the team’s best player, but the majority of the offense is created by the guards. A guy like Corey Stokes is going to shoot it from the outside, while Corey Fisher takes it inside most often. Reynolds is a mix of the two. So it really depends on the personnel as fare as shot selection. Pena is making good strides, but he still doesn’t realize how good he can be.

As for balance, 3 years ago this team was starting 4 guards and couldn’t spell post-presence. Dante Cunningham has changed that. He can get it done inside and his new-found jumper came out of nowhere. You’ll see Villanova look to him a lot, where as in the past he was lucky to get 2-3 shots a game. But this is Villanova. It’s run by the guards. When it clicks for Fisher and Stokes this will be a fun team to watch.

3. Last game at the Spectrum. What does this really mean? Don’t get me wrong, there are great memories of the place. That said, it isn’t the Pavillion where Pitt hasn’t won in ages. What kind of crowd do you expect?

Last game at the Spectrum indeed, although I wouldn’t put too much significance behind it. I think Jay Wright and his boys would love to close the place out with a win, and I think that the students are getting behind this idea a little, but in the end, I don’t see it having a major impact on the game. The Pavilion, as you noted, is a true home court advantage in the Big East. I’ve personally never been to a game at The Spectrum (just The Wachovia Center) so I’m excited to take in this one.

It should be a good crowd though. The students will always be there and because Pitt is such a big name in the conference, I wouldn’t expect to see too many empty seats. Hopefully that provides Villanova a little extra edge.

4. Right back at you. Both teams play tough defense. Villanova goes with more of an attacking defense that tries to force the turnovers and disrupt the plays. Pitt plays mainly straight man, that forces clock to run and force contested and bad shots. How do you see this one playing out?

Pitt is always a frustrating team to play because they like to slow the pace down. If Villanova had their way they would press, press and press some more and try to run a little. Pitt won’t let that happen. I think Antonio Pena needs to continue his string of successful play and frustrate Blair. It would be nice if Scottie Reynolds had a big night too, but I won’t count on it against the smothering Pitt D. This could be a game where the total score barely reaches 100.

Last night at the Spectrum, there’s got to be a little mojo behind that. Plus, Villanova has taken a few close losses to Louisville and UConn.They are due for a win against one of the big boys. I’ll go with Villanova 62, Pitt 60.

Thanks to Chris for the exchange. The game is Wednesday night at 7pm on ESPNU.

Never have decided out how to treat the Backyard Brawl for basketball when it’s a home-and-home. Treat it with an “A” and “B”? A “1” and “2”? Just annoying to me.

No question, the Pitt players enjoyed making the WVU fans go silent with the win.

“Once we got our lead, we kept building and building,” Fields said. “They didn’t have much to cheer for.”

With the win, Pitt (18-1, 6-1) remained in fourth place in the Big East and improved to 6-1 on the road this season. It was only the seventh time in its past 56 home games that West Virginia lost at the Coliseum.

“It was a very good win in a lot of ways,” Pitt coach Jamie Dixon said. “We did a lot of great things.”

It was almost eerie.

As the Panthers were wrapping up Sunday’s victory, Young noticed something unusual about WVU’s coliseum.

“It got really quiet in here,” Young said. “I don’t think I have ever heard it that quiet here.”

Young said the Coliseum is usually one of the loudest places that the Panthers play at during the year.

“The fans here love to talk to you and they are vocal,” Young said. “They can mess with your head if you let them.”

More important not to let them mess with the sheep.

WVU’s defense was looking anything but like its strength by the time Pitt finished with them.

Pitt outscored West Virginia, 38-24, in the paint. The Mountaineers had no answers for Blair and Young’s strength in the middle.

“They started guarding me over the top, and I was able to seal them off,” Blair said. “I was just catching it and finishing.”

Pitt led, 49-47, with 14:18 remaining, but the Panthers began to pull away after going on a 14-4 run. Young scored eight of those points to lead the charge.

Dixon made two big 3-pointers a little later to put the game out of reach. With Pitt up by 10, Dixon made a 24-footer from the wing to put the Panthers up, 66-53. A minute and a half later, he put the dagger in the Mountaineers’ hearts with another 3-pointer that gave the Panthers a 16-point bulge with 7:10 remaining.

Shortly after that, the home crowd began an exodus into the cold West Virginia night while a few hundred Pitt fans stuck around to enjoy the victory by chanting “Let’s Go Pitt.”

As usual with Pitt, the second half was stronger than the first. Pitt was able to do what it wanted.

WVU coach Bob Huggins lamented, “They got us out of doing in the second half what had kept us in the game in the first half. We didn’t pass the ball and we have to move them.

“I felt we could rebound as long as we moved them, as long as we kept them out of the lane. You can’t have those big, round bodies stand in the lane and we just got down and tried to stop them in the lane and that is a recipe for disaster.”

…

Butler said, “This is a big loss. We’ve got to get back to work hard. I was pretty tired down the stretch. But Pitt was the better team. We can take positives from this game. If we do things right, we will be all right.”

Bryant said, “We let the game get away from us in the second half. It’s tough to play against a team like that. Pitt probably is the best team we’ve played this year.”

Ruoff agreed. “We can’t make mistakes like we did when Pitt was pulling away and expect to win. Yes, I think it’s the best team we’ve played so far. We didn’t switch well on defense tonight. We can learn from this.”

Yeah. Under Huggins, I’m guessing the Hoopie practice wasn’t a lot of fun today.

I’m not sure how any sportswriter would even associate the phrase “moral victory” with WVU after a game like that, but someone asked Huggins. I’m surprised the guy is still alive.

Bob Huggins wasn’t accepting any moral victories after West Virginia’s 79-67 loss to No. 4 Pittsburgh on Sunday afternoon.

“I’m not a big proponent of losing to learn, I think you’ve got to learn every time you go out and play,” said Huggins, the Mountaineers’ second year head coach. “I told this bunch the very first day that we can win and we’re going to win, but we can’t not do things right and win, and when we haven’t done things right it has got us.”

Size matters, and WVU’s lack of it cost them against Pitt.  Well, size and strength. Georgetown has size, but lacks the strength to go with it. The hope for WVU watchers is that they might become Pitt when they grow up.

On Sunday night? West Virginia gave its all, especially in the first half. But if you looked around the court, you saw that any Mountaineer would have a tough time starting at his respective position against Pitt’s starters.

Truck Bryant wouldn’t start over Fields. Da’Sean Butler wouldn’t over Sam Young. Certainly Wellington Smith wouldn’t over Blair. Maybe Alex Ruoff over Jermaine Dixon. (That’s a big maybe.) Maybe Devin Ebanks over Tyrell Biggs. But Biggs is 250 pounds, while Ebanks is, what, 195?

Argue amongst yourselves over that. The question is, can West Virginia’s team grow into Pitt?

The player that dominated in the second half, of course was Sam Young.

Still, perhaps West Virginia could have overcome all of that. There was something even more rudimentary, however, that it is tough to ignore: When Sam Young wasn’t on the floor for Pitt, West Virginia stayed right there. When he was unshackled from his foul-induced pine-time early in the second half, though, he simply elevated the Panthers to another level.

Young felt good all game, it was the fouls that kept him down.

“In the first half I felt like was on but, because of the foul situation, I had limited minutes,” said Young, who notched his second straight 22-point performance after four straight games of 14 points or fewer.

“In the second half, I don’t know. I felt like the guys they had checking me was a little slow-footed.”

They looked that way, too.

It was good to see Young bust out. It’s important that he keeps it up, because Pitt won’t succeed in the goals they have (and the expectations the fans have) if Young is not attacking the basket.

Good news, Tyrell Biggs should be okay.

Biggs collapsed to the floor late in the first half and writhed on the court in obvious pain. After a couple of minutes, he gingerly walked off the floor with a bruised right knee. Biggs returned to play 11 minutes in the second half. Coach Jamie Dixon rushed onto the court after Biggs fell.

The 6-foot-8, 250-pounder hasn’t missed a game since his freshman year, playing in 93 in a row.

“He was in tremendous pain,” Dixon said, “and that’s rare. That’s why when he went down. I was very concerned.”

Phew

What has become clear with nearly half the conference slate played, the Big East is best divided into 4 tiers: Top, Promising, Not horrible, Bottom feeders.

Bottom Feeders: Rutgers, DePaul, Seton Hall and St. John’s. With the exception of DePaul, these are still dangerous teams. They are buried in a deep conference. Whether it’s lack of depth because of academics and transfers (Seton Hall), injuries (St. John’s), bad coach (Rutgers) or just an overall mess (DePaul). They strike me as more dangerous the longer into the season because they become more desperate and have less to lose.

Not Horrible: USF and Cinci. Stan Heath is making strides with this team. I think he’s playing a little too close to the edge of catastrophe with the Island of Misfit Toys with talented but flagged transfers, but there are clearly some flashes and talent. They gave Syracuse and ‘Nova scares. They stayed with Pitt for a half.  Cinci was killed again with injuries. Still, a scary team on any given night.

Promising: Good teams with too many flaws to know what to expect. This is where the bulk of the teams are meeting: Providence, WVU, Villanova, ND, Syracuse and Georgetown. Whether it involves issue of depth, match-up problems, youth, one-dimensional, or just not enough options. These teams can get hot for a stretch. They are especially dangerous at home. They are also just as likely to go cold and look like they should be lower. Four or five of these teams will make the NCAA Tournament.

Top: UConn, Louisville and Pitt. The best teams. They have the mix of coaching, talent, depth and experience. The teams are relatively injury free. They can score and defend.

Now if you counted, I only have 15 teams. Marquette is the team I’m just not sure about. Their record (6-0) says Top. The team and my instincts, though, say Promising. No real interior presence. A 1st year coach. A veteran team that has run hot-and-cold in the past couple years.

In conference play, they’ve had 4 of their 6 games at home. Their best conference wins came at home against WVU and ‘Nova. They played two of the games against the worst of the conference — at Rutgers and DePaul. Against Providence, they had to rally late to win on the road.

Their non-con also offers little in clues. They lost to Tennessee in Nashville. They needed a 3 at the buzzer to beat NC State on the road. They beat a down Wisconsin team by 3. Got pounded by Dayton outside of Chicago.

The truth is, Marquette will be the big unknown until the final two weeks of the season: at G-town, UConn, at Louisville, at Pitt, Syracuse.

Just a reminder of how this works since it has been a while.

The liveblog is a moderated chat. That means I will be approving comments. Keep it relatively clean.

In the interest of keeping it from bogging down, not all comments will get through. Especially the repetitive ones. It isn’t personal or about censorship. It’s that 5 consecutive comments that say “wow” or something similar on a great play hardly adds much.

I find that Google Chrome is the best way to use the CIL live blog. I’ve never had to reboot or crash that browser.

The live blog will Right Here.

There will be a liveblog today.

The game is on Fox Sports Pittsburgh, MSG, MASN and the Full Court Package.

Plan accordingly.

This isn’t just a sellout. It’s an “impossible ticket.”

No disagreement. Not even the UConn game will come close (in part because the game will be in Hartford rather than Storrs).

Duquesne coach Ron Everhart seems like he wants to give WVU the edge. For whatever that’s worth.

A Longtime West Virginia sports writer posits that this is the best Pitt team ever. Bob Huggins plays along in building up Pitt.

“It’s great to have that many people. Rutgers played terrific against them at the RAC and really was doing a good job. Then (Brad) Wanamaker comes in and hits a couple threes. Ashton Gibbs comes in and hits another big three.

“And those are guys who really are coming off the bench. You can’t prepare for their starters because they’ve got so many people that can hurt you.”

Huggins said he had yet to find any weaknesses in this powerhouse.

But he intended to keep looking until the game gets under way.

This will be only the fourth time in this ancient rivalry that Pitt has played in Morgantown when ranked among the nation’s Top 5. It won all three of such previous situations — 70-64 on Dec. 12, 1987, when ranked No. 2, 80-61 on Jan. 14, 2003, when No. 3 and 67-58 on Feb. 21. 2004, when No. 5.

WVU stopped being a finesse team the minute Huggins took over last year. They got tougher and better on defense last year. It’s not like anyone figured they’d regress. So, it seems repetitive to have a story pointing out that they are in Huggins image on being a tough defensive team that gets after rebounds.

A defensive struggle is expected between the two. They have good size all over, but no one particularly big. And not as much strength as Pitt.

The truth is, if the Mountaineers are going to beat Pitt, they’re going to have to find a different way.

“We can’t play like Louisville did. We don’t have that size,” WVU coach Bob Huggins said Saturday. “Louisville’s throwing 6-9s and 6-11s at them and bringing people off the bench with good size. We can’t play like that.”

Instead, expect West Virginia (14-4, 3-2 Big East) to do what it does best, what it did in handing No. 12 Georgetown a 17-point defeat Thursday night in Washington – play in-your-face defense, rebound hard and hope more than a few shots find the mark.

DeJuan Blair has some fondness for “Huggy-bear” from his AAU days.

The connection is J.O. Stright, one of Huggins’ best friends, who runs the Pittsburgh JOTS AAU basketball team and coached Blair.

“I know coach Huggins real well,” Blair said. “When I was in high school, he would go to J.O.’s house when I was up there. We’d watch football games on Sunday and everything like that. He’s a real cool dude. He’s a cool coach.”

Huggins tried to recruit Blair to K-State, but Blair had little interest in Manhattan, Kansas.

Wellington Smith hasn’t forgotten giving up the game-winning three to Ronald Ramon.

Smith took the blame at the moment, as he does now, but there has always been a lingering question as what Smith, a 6-foot-7 forward and inside player, was doing on Ramon, a slick guard, at that moment.

“One of our guys missed a switch,” Smith revealed.

He didn’t say it hatefully. He didn’t say it as if it were an excuse, just a matter of fact.

He had to pick up Ramon and stay with him, and he failed to do that, dropping off to help inside when the only thing that could beat WVU was a 3-point shot.

But he swears he’s over it.

I have mixed feelings about the way WVU beatdown on Georgetown this week. On the one hand, at least they aren’t coming home after a loss for this game really hungry. There’s also the chance that they will get a little too cocky after the way they handled the Hoyas. I mean they are already talking about the win as one of WVU’s best ever (really?). On the other hand, it sure diminishes the way Pitt dominated Georgetown previously. The Mountaineers also went into the Verizon Center as well and pounded them in the second half.

The game down at the concrete toadstool is a sellout. No shock. In comes a top-5 team and its the rivalry game.

Last year, the Mountaineers pounded Pitt in Morgantown, 76-62. Pitt played poorly, Blair and Young fouled out. It was admittedly, right in the midst of a Pitt slump, but it just wasn’t good. Kind of nice to play the game in Morgantown early in the season.

The guy Pitt will have to stop is Da’Sean Butler.

Butler is averaging a team-best 16.9 points per game and has scored in double figures in 16 of the team’s 18 games, including 22 points or more in five contests.

“Da’Sean has been really good,” Huggins said last night over the phone from Morgantown.

“He’s different than Joe. Da’Sean wants to share the wealth. He’s not as demanding of the ball as Joe was. He has said he was perfectly happy watching Joe do his thing last year. Da’Sean would defer to him. Even this year, Da’Sean will sometimes defer to Alex [Ruoff]. It all depends on who has the hot hand.”

Butler has had the hot hand lately. He scored 27 points in a 62-59 victory Saturday against South Floridaand followed that up with another 27-point performance in Thursday night’s upset of No. 14 Georgetown in Washington.

Butler figures to be the player Pitt will be worried about most when it travels to Morgantown for the first of two regular-season meetings against the Mountaineers tomorrow afternoon.

Butler may be the match-up that falls more to Gilbert Brown to keep him from slashing to the basket and keeping Blair and Young from foul trouble.

Jermaine Dixon, may help a little, but the size is a concern. He’s more likely to be working on keeping Alex Ruoff frustrated. Dixon got a nice piece talking about him as the defensive stopper.

“He makes their offense go,” Dixon said of Flynn. “He’s a scoring point guard. I knew if I could slow him down shooting-wise, it would be a benefit to us

“This was my first real test as a defensive player on this level. We’ve played some good players, but none like him. I wanted to see how I measured up.”

Dixon measured up just fine.

It’s not hard to understand why.

“I made up my mind when Pitt recruited me that I wanted to be a lock-down defender,” Dixon said. “I knew they had a bunch of scorers here and a bunch of good ball-handlers. I wanted to fill a role.”

That defensive intensity was what kept him getting minutes even when he couldn’t find his offensive game.

Jermaine Dixon should be playing more of a role on offense if the team is serious about attacking the basket and drawing fouls. Dixon is an excellent slasher and he has been finishing.

“The biggest difference in that Louisville game was they beat us at the free-throw line,” Dixon said. “The Louisville game it stood out a little more. … Against zone teams, there is a tendency to settle for outside shots. We usually stay away from that. But against Louisville, we got away from that. We did it against Syracuse. You have to find other ways to get interior touches. We did a very good job of that against Syracuse.”

The Panthers had been in the habit of settling for outside shots. In their six conference games, they have taken 113 3-pointers. Only Notre Dame and Providence had taken more in conference play.

“We’re definitely taking a lot of 3s, more than we should be,” starting shooting guard Jermaine Dixon said. “For the most part, a lot of the 3s are open looks that you have to take. But we do feel like we should be attacking more, and that’s what we got going against Syracuse.”

Jermaine Dixon said there is another benefit to attacking the basket. It can take pressure off of point guard Levance Fields, he said, who has been chiefly responsible for penetrating and getting open shots for everyone else.

“We need everybody making plays,” Jermaine Dixon said. “Besides Levance, me, Sam [Young], Brad [Wanamaker] and Gil [Brown], we have to be able to make plays to help us out at the end. We have to get DeJuan [Blair] easier looks, make plays for ourselves and take pressure off Levance.”

Blair of course enjoys the longer shots, because he can be in better position to get the rebounds and put backs.

That leads into the story on Blair working on his best Wes Unseld.

The 6-7, 265-pound Blair ranks third in the nation at 12.8 rebounds per game (behind only pre-season All-Americans Blake Griffin of Oklahoma and Luke Harangody of Notre Dame).

But it is Blair’s actions after the rebounds that have improved. He is hitting point guard Levance Fields in stride and getting the offense off and running. Last season, Blair admits he lazily tossed outlet passes without much authority.

“I would throw them underhand or throw them wibbly-wobbly,” he said. “They weren’t good passes. Now, I think I do a good job, and once (Fields) gets it, he can run, instead of having to wait.”

Dixon agreed Blair is significantly better in that area. He said last season Blair had a tendency to “use a rebound as an opportunity to rest.”

“Now, we are talking to him about getting it out quick and giving us a chance to go,” Dixon said. “It’s just a part of his improvement.”

Blair has more assists than turnovers (21-20) this season after having more than twice as many turnovers to assists as a freshman. He also has more steals and fewer fouls.

Part of his improvement this year. His improving conditioning also helped since he doesn’t need to rest as much after the rebound.

If it’s Friday, it’s time to list out where Pitt is in the various power polls. After all, how else can we achieve righteous indignation at the punditry that hates Pitt if we don’t know which ones.

FoxSports dropped Pitt to #5 and bitched about the free throw shooting.

At the beginning of the week — before the Syracuse game — Mike DeCourcy had Pitt at #5. On the bright side, he had a cogent critique.

Sam Young is not slumping as a shooter. He’s slumping as a shot-selector. It’s hard to say why he began to perceive the demand for him to take and make guarded shots. There was a smidge of that in the victory over Georgetown, but it faded quickly. It has been more evident as he has shot 15-of-49 in the past three games. The nature of the Panthers is to generate and convert high-quality shots while denying them to opponents. To be great, they must remain that team.

Which is something that jibed exactly with what he did in the Syracuse game. It also meant he got to the free throw line.

Before his recent drought, Young had attempted at least one free throw in 46 of the previous 49 games.

“It’s just him attacking and not settling,” Fields said. “It kind of got him going. It’s always good for a scorer to get a couple easy ones at the free throw line.”

Against Syracuse, Young nearly single-handedly fouled out Harris — even if it meant getting one of his shots blocked. Young drew two shooting fouls on the junior forward, including his fifth with 3:17 to play. Young also drew shooting fouls on Syracuse forwards Rick Jackson and Kris Joseph.

Most shooting fouls come from the defender being late and desperate to stop the clean look. That’s what Young was getting in the game.

Luke Winn at SI.com only dropped Pitt one notch to #2, and focused on Levance Fields.

… In it, point guard Levance Fields says, “To be honest, some of us got snubbed, if you really want to look at it that way, from being those kind of recruits.” Fields is the strangest case of being overlooked, because typically New York guards — like, say, Sebastian Telfair — tend to be overhyped rather than overlooked. When Fields made his college decision in 2004, he was choosing between St. John’s, South Florida, Miami and Pitt. He was the 14th-ranked point guard on Rivals.com’s board that year, and as you scan up the list, only second-ranked Mario Chalmers — who, if you recall, had a decent title game in March — turned out better than Fields. The No. 1-rated point guard that year was none other than Greg Paulus.

Fields being overlooked is easily explained. His body type just doesn’t scream elite point guard. Or more precisely, future NBA point guard.

ESPN.com also put Pitt at #2.

The Big East survival guide warns against letting one loss turn into two, or even three. Pitt heeded that warning with a dominating win over Syracuse at home on the heels of the Panthers’ first loss against Louisville. But it’s back on the road again, with upcoming trips to West Virginia and Villanova.

Now, the big shock. Gottlieb was had Pitt at #2 (and had UNC at #1???). Jay Bilas, however, put Pitt down at #6 — the lowest of all voters.

A treat, even.  Arguably, one of the developments of increased parity in college sports is the decrease in depth. Few teams really go too deep in rotations. You see it in preseason rankings. After the obvious talent on a team and the coach, the two factors most commonly relied on to rank a team higher involves experience level and depth.

Pitt came into the season with some questions about the depth. Mainly, how would it be used and could it be relied. Generally it has come through this season. In his chat, Ray Fittipaldo noted that it didn’t quite come up strong against Louisville.

PrimeTime: I keep hearing you say that Pitt is not that deep, I have been paying attention to the last 3-4 games Especially Louisville and Syracuse and it seems those teams only played 6 and maybe 7 and Pitt is playing 7-8 guys, I think this gives Pitt a big advantage going into the Big East Tourney and the NCAA, what is your thoughts

Ray Fittipaldo: Pitt’s depth one through seven is a strength. Brad Wanamaker and Gilbert Brown are really good bench players. That being said, they only contributed five points in the Louisville game when they were really needed. I guess I’d like to see more consistency out of them. Also, I’d like to see Gary McGhee progress as a backup center to Blair. Gibbs is fine for three or four minutes a game as long as he doesn’t have to handle pressure. Fields had to play 39 minutes vs. Louisville because there was no one else to handle the ball. The result was he and the rest of team were worn down at the end of the game.

…

Minnesota_Pittman: I hear what you’re saying about Pitt’s bench needing to score more. However, if these guys can come in, play defense, score a couple of points, keep the other team at bay and most importantly give our starters some rest, then IMHO they’ve done a good job.

Ray Fittipaldo: I agree with you for the most part. My observation from the Louisville game was that they needed to score and did not because everyone else was in foul trouble. Wanamaker and Brown are solid players, but they did not step up in that game. If there is another scenario like that down the road, I think they’ll have to find ways to score and help out the starters. The starters scored all but five of the team’s points in that game. Sometimes you need some help from unexpected sources.

I guess. In one game the bench didn’t score and the starters were in foul trouble. I’m a bit more optimistic, since we have seen the bench come through in the scoring part in prior games this season. Rutgers immediately springs to mind.

So the first man off Pitt’s bench is almost always Gilbert Brown. Naturally that makes it easy to lead with his puff piece from his local paper.

“Usually around the five-minute mark, [Brown] is the first guy in,” the six-year head coach said. “Defense is first, along with rebounding and decision making. In some games he will score some points for us.

“Brown has a great understanding of what we do offensively and defensively. He’s a smart player who takes great pride in being a student of the game. When we recruited him his athleticism jumped out at me. He is a good student with a good family background.”

And he’s contributing significantly to one of the country’s top teams, averaging 19.6 minutes, 5.9 points and 3.9 rebounds. He also has recorded 12 steals.

Brown’s season this year, sort of reminds me of Sam Young’s sophomore year. Nagging injuries. So much potential that showed the prior year. Yet, the progress was slowed by the physical injuries. Flashes of it. Hopefully it will keep re-emerging through the season.

When Nasir Robinson was recruited and gave his verbal to Pitt, the common refrain was that he was gritty, tough but not always pretty. Especially with his offense. We’ve seen that in limited doses this year. When on the court, he plays tough defense. He’s got the athleticism and can get to the basket and be in position. His touch, however, gives new meaning to muscling the ball. Just as it seemed like he was going to get buried on the bench this year, he’s started to get more playing time.

“He’s good against the zone and that was something we were looking at,” Dixon said. “They went small. So we really felt good about it and it felt like the right thing to do at the time. He’s active and that was something he didn’t do against Louisville.”

Robinson – a two-time PIAA all-state first team selection – made his only shot, a layup off an excellent feed from DeJuan Blair. He also grabbed one rebound, had one assist and saved a ball from going out of bounds in his limited action.

Pitt, which plays at West Virginia on Sunday, saw its lead grow to 11 by the time Tyrell Biggs entered the game for Robinson with 3:32 left.

“(Nasir) came in fresh and he gave us a big boost,” guard Levance Fields said.

Robinson’s boost in playing time comes at the expense of Gary McGhee. There’s no doubt that McGhee is still struggling, but I really don’t think he’s going to get run out of Pitt or transfer. I see it as a great thing about Pitt’s depth and talent. There are a lot of programs where McGhee would be playing a lot of minutes simply because of his size and the lack of talent in front of him.

At this point he’s not looking like he’ll ever be a starter. I’m not convinced he doesn’t have an important role, though. A player that can fill the lane and provide some help inside. If he wants it, he will have every opportunity in 2009-10 with Biggs and Young are gone. Yes there is talent coming in (and redshirting) that will push him. That’s good.

I think as much as anything, the “transfer or push” talk is more from following recruiting. Pitt, like nearly every other program, is still staying involved with players even as they have their allotment of scholarships for the recruiting class filled. So, that fuels the speculation as to where another scholarship could potentially emerge. McGhee seems like the most apparent on the roster.