For those who wish to make the argument or ask why other teams that struggled in the first or second round do not seem to be getting the same level of grief that Pitt has gotten. It is not some perceived disrespect. It is because Pitt struggled in both rounds.

The other teams in the Sweet Sixteen that were expected to contend for a national championship and did not blow out opponents in both games: Louisville, Michigan State, Memphis, Villanova, Duke and Oklahoma. They only had struggles in one game. You can argue fair or not. And I know that most Pitt fans feared the potential  Oklahoma State match-up far more than the Tennessee one because of the press and 4-guards. That just comes off as trying to justify and make excuses.

It’s unimportant. Pitt is in the Sweet Sixteen. It would have been nice to have done it with less drama, but teams that looked stronger than expected in the first round like Dayton, Maryland, Texas A&M, Wisconsin and UCLA are no longer playing.

All that matters is winning and moving on. Pitt has done that after the first weekend.

If you saw the first half of this game, you witnessed some amazing shooting from both teams. Of course if you wanted to see that glass as half-empty, I guess you could have called it poor defense–Bill Raftery quipped that both coaches must have signed a non-aggression pact. All during that time, however, the Panthers were also collecting offensive boards in bulk. They’ve been known to do that on occasion. The hero for Jamie Dixon’s team was Sam Young, who not only scored 32 points but also snagged five offensive boards. (He even recorded three blocks.) Right now Xavier coach Sean Miller is printing up T-shirts for his team: “Don’t Go for Young’s Shot Fake.”

Heck, right now, Pitt may be the heavy favorite to win on Thursday, but it is Villanova people love. Just like others are falling over themselves to jump back on the UConn bandwagon in the West bracket. It’s a weekend of perception. Lingering impressions of domination will do that.

Those who didn’t look closely, only took note of Sam Young’s awesome 32-point showing.

“I was hot,” said Young, who was 9-for-12 from the floor, including 3-for-6 on three-pointers, in the first half. “I felt like I’d be more aggressive.”

Pitt finally got OSU to cool off in the second half, limiting the Cowboys to 33.3-percent shooting. And although others may find fault with the Panthers’ performance in Dayton, don’t count Dixon among them.

“We had to find a way to beat a very good team on a good night, and we did,” Dixon said. “And we did it with rebounding and our toughness, and the defense really stepped up in the second half.”

And there is no question that Young was the headline for the game. He deserves a lot of love. When Sam Young is in a groove, he can take over a game and the offense really can fly.

What is important for the next game, though, is how Levance Fields looked.

2. Levance Fields has regained his pre-Big East tournament groove. Since injuring himself on Mar. 7 against Connecticut, the senior point has scored just six points in each of two games. But on Sunday, he went for 13 (three more than his season average) and added nine assists.

More importantly, he says he’s back to 100 percent health. He even indulged reporters after the game by running down a checklist of potential injuries that might be — but aren’t — bothering him. The finger he jammed seconds before the first half ended against OSU? “Aw, that’s nothing,” he said. Proof of that: he came back on the following possession to drain a three-pointer with three seconds left. He also went unaffected by a mid-court collision with Moses. (More on that later.) “And the other injury,” he joked afterward, meaning the groin tweak that’s been nagging him. “Nope. Not affecting me.”

Oh, and this is great.

From courtside, Fields’ second half collision with [Marshall] Moses looked a little fishy, particularly when Young leaned to the downed point guard’s level, whispered something, and came away smiling.

Afterward, Fields revealed how the exchange had gone. “[Sam] said, ‘You’re playing it up, right?’ ‘Yeah,’ I said. I was playing it up.” He added, “Someone probably should have warned me about that [pick]. Thank goodness I’m not the smallest guy in the league.”

Heh. Probably not as funny in Stillwater.

Coach Dixon acknowledged the importance of the game forFields.

Dixon said he just now is getting healthy again. “He didn’t practice for two weeks. He just started practicing again last week. Practice is important …

“This was a big game for Levance. He needed this, needed it for his confidence. We’re a different team when he plays like that.”

Fields had nine assists and just two turnovers. He set up Young for a 3-pointer that gave Pitt a 74-72 lead, then made a layup and a killer 3 to make the score 79-74.

“My coaches and teammates really believe in me and want me to have the ball with the game on the line,” Fields said. “There’s no greater feeling than knowing that. “

Of course, some people can only watch the game and think how next year those players won’t be there (sigh).