You really didn’t think I’d skip liveblogging this did you?

One slight change, I’m going to be a little more aggressive at moderating comments. What I mean by that is, when there is a play and say six people all type “wow” or “tackle” or essentially the same comment within a couple seconds of each other, I’m not going to approve them all. It’s nothing personal, it just creates clutter. I’ll approve one or two but not all of them. Hopefully it will allow things to flow better.

Still haven’t figured out why CIL’s “iframe” won’t embed on my blog. If anyone has any skill with this send me an e-mail to explain how I can make it work.

Otherwise, you will find the liveblog starting around noon right here.

There won’t be a liveblog for the City Game. I just don’t trust that between the streaming video feed and trying to do a liveblog, I wouldn’t spend half the game rebooting and re-launching. That or my laptop might just fry itself.

Assuming the game ends around 9 tonight, head over to the Syracuse blog, Orange 44. Brian will be hosting a confab of some of the Big East bloggers. Tonight’s line-up consists of:

— Brian Harrison of the aforementioned, Orange 44.

— Sean Keeley, another Syracuse fellow from the recently rennovated Troy Nunes.

— John Radcliff, the man from Mountainlair.

— And myself (though, unless Pitt is killing the Stage Magicians, not until the final whistle).

It will be about all things Big East. From the wrap-up of football season to the emerging Armageddon of Big East basketball.

We will be discussing things and taking questions in a moderated (so keep it clean) chat. Expect plenty of snark, sarcasm, bitterness and maybe even an insight or two.

Just as you make your own luck, I don’t buy into destiny. I prefer free will.

So, here’s the liveblog that should get underway sometime around 7-ish.

Since there has been something of a queue to participate, I’ve sent out some invites (near the max allowable) to those that I trust will be able to reasonably control themselves that should allow more participation. Hopefully that will help.

Here’s the Link to tonight’s liveblog.

Okay, still not sure why I am struggling with the embed. Our traveling correspondent, DanS keeps feeding the photos, and I keep posting.

Lots of help today. Which I appreciate. I may have to cut out a little early. It’s my grandmother’s 90th birthday, so family obligations actually trump tonight

Here’s the LiveBlog.

On the road yesterday. I’ve got my grandmother’s 90th birthday tonight so I may have to cut out early. That said, I will be liveblogging and drop me a direct line and I will see about adding panelists and other producers to allow more participation. The last one I did there apparently was a queue on participants so I’m trying to work around the limitations.

Special invite to the guys at Cat Basket, Hail to Pitt, Panther Prowl, and The Intersection at Forbes and Fifth, to co-liveblog with it simul-blogging on their own sites.

Okay folks, I know many of you are planning to go to the Rutgers-Pitt game tomorrow. As am I. That means no Live Blog unless there are some volunteers to run the show.

Here are the job requirements:

• Ability to type without excessive profanities.
• Willing to moderate/approve comments.
• Able to do this while paying attention to the game.
• A good enough computer (or computers) to have ESPN360.com running and the CIL interface.

I’m looking for at least one person, though, having a few volunteers makes it easier on everyone.

Just shoot me an e-mail at pittblather -at- gmail -dot-com to let me know if you can meet these standards.

Otherwise I’ll just set-up a comment thread for tomorrow.

Once more, it’s time for a LiveBlogging the game. Still haven’t figured out why the darn thing won’t directly embed, but I’ll worry about that on another day.

Simply Click Here after 7:30 and join the fun. I figure on starting this a little before the game.

Remember, the comments will be moderated and subject to approval. Over doing ALL CAPS, excessive swearing, any mention of politics (especially the VP Debate) and personal attacks are generally ways to not see your comments become part of the narrative.

It’s live blog day. Pitt on the road. I’m at home.

New tech, though. The live blog will be in a more interactive/chat format. With the comments appearing right with my blog comments.

The comments will be subject to approval in this format. Highly irrelevant comments, Abusive commenting or excessive cursing (unless warranted) will not get posted.

Unfortunately, WordPress based blogs are not as compatible with the CoverItLive software to plop it right in the post. So click the link below to go to the liveblog at noon. It will appear as a pop-up box.

Click Here

The game is on WTAE in Pittsburgh. For those with ESPN Gameplan, it will be showed on that. It’s an ESPN Regional game. You can see it on the following sports cable channels depending on your region:

SNY (SportsNet New York)

MASN (DC region)

Altitude Sports and Entertainment

Courtesy of DanS who is at the game.

Crowd control

By the time you read this, I will have been in the ‘Burgh for at least a couple hours. It’s very likely I’ve dozed off in a chair in the parking lot after some donuts, burgers, bourbon and beer.

I’m sure I’ll make it in before kickoff.

Anyways, for those of you watching from elsewhere, let it fly.

Not good so far this evening for the Big East with Notre Dame and Marquette falling.

Hopefully that was just a Pac-10 aberration.

9:27: Okay, just ugly shooting so far. Neither team looks particularly comfortable. There’s a good amount of bumping and physical activity. Pitt down 4-2 but Sam Young shooting foul shots after the break.

9:39: Pitt down 13-12, 10:20 until halftime.

Pitt 6-6 on free throws. Shooting struggles continue. Pitt forced a short flurry of turnovers and that resulted in Michigan State starting to hold onto the ball a bit more rather than trying to move the ball more. Right now the Spartans are hitting shots and Pitt is not.

9:47: Right now, the question is whether Pitt can shoot above 25% from the field before halftime. On the stunning side, Pitt is 8-8 on FTs.

9:55: Crap, but Neitzel is shooting well tonight. I guess on the positive side, MSU has been hot while Pitt is cold this half. Yet it is still quite close.

10:08: Fields did nearly everything in that half. That steal was tremendous, and he finished this time. Of course, the rest of the team stood there and watched as Kailan Lucas took it all the way and right to the hoop.

Pitt down 30-28. All told, Pitt should be happy to be down only 2. 9-29 shooting and being outrebounded. MSU shooting fantastic. 12-25 shooting, 4-5 on 3s.

Pitt has stayed close because of getting turnovers and shooting 8-8 from the line.

The team has to shoot better in the second half.

10:35: How can Pitt still be missing these shots? More activity on defense, but no conversions on offense.

11:32: Sorry, Pitt finally went on a run when I backed off any posts, so I went with it.  That didn’t last. Kiddie stuff then interfered with any more posting.
So the season comes to an end. Looked like the legs were finally giving out on the players. So many shots that just seemed to hit the front of the rim.

Michigan State made the tough shots. Have to give the Spartans credit. Neitzel had the hot shooting game, they needed. Kalin Lucas was able to attack off the dribble and was simply faster.
Pitt missed the open looks. Unbelievable number of open looks — especially from the perimeter — that Pitt left short.  Pitt shot 2-17 on 3s, which was somewhat offset by shockingly good FT shooting — 18-19.

DeJuan Blair struggled with too much size inside from Michigan State, and being the only Pitt player inside all too often. When Levance Fields is the second leading rebounder, that never bodes well.
Hate to see Ronald Ramon and Keith Benjamin go out like this. Neither of them able to do much on offense.

Okay, gametime nearing. Let’s see if Pitt can help put the seeding issue into further chaos.

9:00: No shock that the studio crew went Georgetown across the board. History, rankings, seeding, fresher legs, etc. all favor Georgetown.

9:05: Oh, we have the full intros tonight. Did the players get to choose their own music?

9:10: Burr, Cahill and Donato the refs.

9:12: Okay, not exactly the same start as last night. 2 turnovers, a foul by Blair, and a missed shot. Pitt down 6-0 with 18:02 to go in the half. Dixon calls a necessary timeout. Have to settle the team.

9:17: Better. Ball movement on offense. Staying tight on defense. Biggs all over Hibbert (yeah, I’m shocked to be writing that too). 6-5 G-town with 15:44.

9:21: If Pitt can’t knock down any 3s (only 1 so far) they won’t have any room to work inside. G-town is really clogging the lanes.

Can’t believe Fields missed both FTs and Wallace hit that ridiculous 3. Those are the sort of things that can demoralize the team early. Make them think that it won’t be their night.

9:26: Pitt has the lead as Brown comes up with big scores off the bench. Even when things work for G-town, the pace will keep this game close — at least in the first half. Pitt has to remain patient.

Biggs playing solid. Guess he is really up for playing for friends and family.

9:32: In the first meeting this year, the Hoyas only made 3 3s all game. They have 4 already.

9:35: Pitt down 22-21 with 7:01 left.

Have to hope that the Hoyas cool on the 3-point shooting in the second half. That is where they are living right now. Pitt has hit enough 3s now to stay with them and open things inside. They are swarming over Blair inside, though. Good ball movement by Pitt. Defense isn’t bad, G-town is setting some great screens for the 3s and they are knocking them down from a longer range.

9:42: Pitt is incredibly active on the glass. Really attacking the glass. After letting Marquette dominate last night, I guess they redoubled the effort.

Hibbert has 2 fouls.

Pitt up 29-26 with 3:32.

9:53: Pitt’s defense really, really tightened up further into the half. They completely disrupted their final possession.

Pitt leads 31-28 at the half.

Jamie Dixon flashes a little sense of humor to Doris Burke at the halftime interview. The crowd noise drowned her out and he told her so, gave stock coach talk, and then added that he was sure her observations were spot on. At least he isn’t tight for this game.

Pitt definitely came out a little tight, while G-town was loose. By the end of the half, it seemed that the roles switched. Pitt looked looser and faster. The Hoyas seemed a little more frustrated that Pitt wasn’t rolling over for them.

Ewing, Jr. is just a good ball-player. Such a break for the Hoyas that he quit at Indiana and came to them. He’s not a starter, because he isn’t good at helping to set the pace and flow. Once the game is going, though, he jumps right in there and keeps things moving.

In an ideal world, this week is when things finally go off for Biggs mentally. An understanding of all that he has to do in the little things. I don’t know. It finally happened for Benjamin in his senior year. Maybe Biggs is starting to get the message.

Ramon has been so consistently good for Pitt in the BET. He is showing some real fire in his final games as a Panther.

10:13: The floor mic just caught Jesse Sapp saying “Get that s**t out of here” as he fouled Young.

Young then missed both FTs. That’s just killing every Pitt fan with the misses from the charity stripe.

10:19: Pitt still leading 39-35. Blair heading to the line after the commercial break. I’m not optimistic they will increase their lead.

I’m loving what I’m seeing from Ronald Ramon. This is the end of his career and he is just going to leave it all out there. Injuries, fatigue and being undersized be damned.

10:29: DaJuan Summers has his 4th foul with over 12 minutes left. Huge. They are talking about his defense on Young. But he is also the guy that can attack from a wing on offense. Again, Ewing, Jr. tried to take the “credit” for the foul in place of Summers. Just smart.

10:32: How was that a travel on Brown when Hibbert grabbed him on the perimeter?

10:41: It is weird. The Hoya fouls are looking more and more like frustration fouls. Please make some.

Wow. Hibbert picks up 2 quick fouls in a few seconds. Now the Hoyas have Summers, Rivers and Hibbert with 4 fouls.

10:44: Outrebounding, outhustling and taking care of the ball along with the defense. That’s how Pitt is overcoming one of the worst displays of foul shooting ever. Bob Huggins and John Calipari are bothered by this level.

Only theory I have is that the tired legs kick in when they have a chance to stop and try and take their time to shoot. Adrenalin and the game flow are keeping them going in the game itself. I mean, Fields going 1-6?

10:47: DaJuan Summers fouled out with 7:25 left. Pitt up 53-42, Hibbert has to come back in.

10:55: Blair commits a dumb foul after Hibbert already beat him. That’s his 4th. Still 4:45 to go. 56-49.

10:56:Ramon Nails the open 3 on a broken play. Huge. Back up to 10 points.

11:02: Time to prove Pitt can make them when it counts. It’s going to be a procession to the FT line now.

11:04: Rivers fouls out grabbing Ramon on an inbound.

11:15: Another huge block for Young late!!!!

Ramon knocks down 4 straight FTs.

Young will be the Tourney MVP — deservedly so — but damn if Ramon isn’t a close second for the way he has stepped up in this BET.

11:20: YYYEEESSSSSSSSS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

11:21: There’s a lot of dust in my house as I watch Pitt celebrate.

Geez, Georgetown suddenly looks scary good. I want Pitt to win — badly — but it also feels like Pitt gets to play with house money at this point. Still, can’t have the newbies from C-USA feel that comfortable yet.

9:25: Just as Pitt gets off to a solid start and 5-0 lead, Blair commits a dumb foul way out on the perimeter. Marquette immediately scored after that.

9:30: Pitt up 14-4 with 15:44 to the half. Hot shooting start. Levance Fields feeling it early going to the basket. Shots that hadn’t fallen since his return are dropping right now. Sam Young is really, really active on the D. Marquette sloppy with the ball helps, too.

9:38: Marquette briefly stopped turning the ball over and closed. Then they got sloppy again and Pitt converts. Now 24-15 with the “and 1” for Brown coming after the commercial. Jerel McNeal has been carrying the Golden Eagles. That ran out for WVU with Alexander today. I’m just sayin’.

9:44: Damn. Blair with his second at about the 10 minute mark. Let’s see if Biggs can give Pitt some more minutes.

Marquette with now within 6.

9:55: Wow. McNeal with 2 fouls and over 6 minutes until halftime. Pitt is still attacking offensively and it is beautiful. Defense is tight to this point. Shots that Marquette is making are not exactly a lay-up line.

9:57: Things not heard very often. Size mismatch in favor of Benjamin.

9:58: With 4:17 left, McNeal commits 3d foul (2nd offensive) as Benjamin draws it. Huge.

10:02: Things all going Pitt’s way right now. It’s Marquette with foul issues — despite better depth. Pitt is just attacking, attacking, attacking.

35-21 with under 4, Benjamin heading to the line. Marquette is even bringing back in Hayward with his two fouls because he provides marginally better inside defense.

10:10: Well, unfortunately Pitt failed to score in the final minutes. Of course Marquette only had 2 points over 9:28.

The Golden Eagles are 0-16 on shooting right now. Eerily like a role-reversal from the first meeting. Pitt should be up more, but then in the first game, so should have Marquette at the end of the 1st half.

Not thrilled with the way Pitt rushed shots in the final few minutes, but I’ll let it slide.

Biggs has been solid in his minutes. This will be somewhat backhanded, but Marquette is precisely the kind of team that Biggs should be able to do well on both ends.

35-22 Pitt at the half.

10:27: Matthews commits 2 fouls in a few seconds. Ramon shooting 3 FTs. Goes 1-3. Huh?

10:30: Blair with his 3d foul just a minute and a half into the second half. Damn.

10:32: Ramon and Young are just getting after things for Pitt. Yippee (I know, trenchant observations here).

10:39: McNeal with foul #4 with 15:43 left in the game. Pitt up “only” 11.

10:46: Just as Marquette gets to 10, Pitt answers. Ramon for a corner 3, then Young steal and lay-in.

13:19 left, Pitt up 49-34.

10:51: Crean’s whining/bitching/complaining in a media TO, gets him a technical. Ramon only 1-2. What is up with his FT shooting tonight?

Biggs now shooting his FTs — and makes them both. 52-39, 11:50 left.

10:57: The Marquette 3s have been falling more. Now Blair gets his 4th foul with 9:01 left. Pitt’s lead down to 8.

11:01: Okay, I don’t know what has happened in this game to Pitt’s FT shooting. Between that and Marquette really getting a ton of second chances (even though they have missed a lot of them) that is really starting to offset good early shooting and Pitt forcing turnovers.

And Biggs off the feed from Young gives Pitt a needed basket with the “and 1” (not counting on it) after the commercial break. Pitt still up by 8, with under 8 to go.

11:06: If Young won’t even warn Ramon, they are going to keep running that screen to free James.

11:30: Marquette and their fans can take, um, solace in the moral victory. That their team didn’t quit. That they rallied and fought and clawed back into the game. All good things.

I’ll take the real thing. Plus the fact that even as Marquette made a comeback, Pitt never lost it. They did what was needed. They regained their composure.

Pitt doesn’t surrender the lead or the game. 68-61 for the win. Points scored in the first half, still counted in the second half.

I’m around. Sort of.

7:03: Len Elmore calls out Pitt’s defense before the opening tip. No arguments from the peanut gallery.

7:05: By the way, Jim Burr was officiating the Syracuse-‘Nova game, so there is no worry there.

7:11: Making 3s, but taking too many early. Pitt up 8-4, 17:10 to play. Ramon and Benjamin already have a foul each.

7:15: Crap. Benjamin picks up his second foul early. Blair took too long to decide. It was like he waited for the double-team and then decided to go to the basket. He turned right into the double-team in part because he put himself too far under the basket if he turned the other way.

7:23: I’m really concerned about the struggles to get the ball inside. Blair seems a bit sluggish tonight. Brown isn’t getting much of a chance to attack — or even see the ball.

7:29: Damnit! That was basket interference by Williamson. How was that not in the cylinder when he threw it down?

Blair just missed 2 more FTs. Pitt up only 16-14 with under 9 to go until halftime.

7:33: Wow. Over 7 minutes without a field goal for Pitt. Ugly drought.

7:41: Okay. Benjamin back in with his 2 fouls gives Pitt 4 points and then Biggs with a put back when Cinci completely forgot him. Pitt up 22-16 4:41 to halftime.

7:55: Pitt has a 31-25 lead at the half.

Sam Young came to play, to go a bit cliche. Not just on offense. He’s actually flashing defensive effort tonight.

Cinci is struggling. They get Pitt to go nearly 9 minutes without a FG and the best they could do was briefly tie the game. It’s up to Pitt to attack. They seem a bit passive. Blair, looks nervous. I think the BET actually has him a little more tentative than he (or anyone else expected).

8:22: Sorry, kid duties kept me away for a little.

Benjamin stepping up tonight. Much needed.

8:46: And a little more.

Give Cinci — and especially Deonta Vaughn — credit. He’s hitting deep, stepback 3s. That is unbelievable. Pitt looked like they had them down. After the UConn debacle they should have rolled over. They didn’t. Pitt has to put them down, the Bearcats won’t do it for them.

8:52: Thank goodness Ramon is hot in the second half, as well. He’s helping to keep the Vaughns at bay.

9:00: Vaughn has their last 17 points. Anyone else thinking evil thoughts of “Sweep the knee!”? Just me? Oh.

Sam Young with 2 blocks. Wow.

9:03: 1:08 left, Ramon misses 2 FTs? Ugh. Up to that point Pitt had been better than solid at the line.

Vaughn has the last 20 for Cinci. Just a tremendous individual effort to carry his team. Frustrating, because Pitt would be blowing them out otherwise, but it is worthy of respect.

9:15: Phew. Pitt wins 70-64 over the Deonta Vaughns of Cinci.

Sam Young was great for Pitt. 4 blocks including 2 vital ones in the final minute+.

Pitt won despite a horrid game from Blair.

Keith Benjamin stepped up for Pitt. Ramon had a solid game. Fields still lacks his shot, but his passing is getting a lot crisper.

Sorry for the late start. Was outside doing more digging out of all the snow. My back is killing me, barely got back inside. Haven’t even had a chance to grab a beer yet.

Ugly start so far. Lots of misses. At least the defensive effort appears there early.

12:18: DePaul is supposed to have a lot of talent. A big recruiting class. Lots of people think highly of Jerry Wainwright. He was on the coaching staff for USA Basketball (U-21, I think). Aside from being very personable and glib, I have yet to see a DePaul game where I thought the coaching was the difference — in a good way. Especially on defense.

Pitt has really started hitting the shots thanks to the poor DePaul defense. The thing that worries me is that the Pitt players will use it as an excuse not to play defense. Lord knows they need to.

11:09 left in the half, Pitt leading 20-11.

12:28: And there’s the lack of defense inside. DePaul has closed to within 5 with 8:30 left.

12:30: Geez. Wanamaker with a nice steal on help defense, then tries to go 1-3 and turns it right back over. The hoop goes the other way +1. Again, no defense inside to allow right to the basket.

DePaul can take the lead with the free throw after the commercial break.

12:35: That TV timeout gave Pitt a chance to regroup. Moving the ball on offense again and now a 8-0 run to take a 35-27 lead with 5:03 left in the half.

A little more patient on defense in this spurt.

12:40: DePaul already has 3 players with 2 fouls — Clarke, Koshwal, Poscic — mainly inside guys.

12:47: Yes, Pitt leads 45-39.

I’m not that happy, though. Not doing a good job on defense. Way too many easy drives straight to the basket. No one there to contest them. DePaul is not a good team, and they are being allowed to get to the rim.

Sloppy with the ball. Crap load of turnovers — 7 or 8 so far.

Sure the offense has looked pretty good, but this is against DePaul and their weak defense. Fine that Pitt is shooting and scoring. The defense is what they need to be playing.

1:10: Pitt up 56-45 with 16:26 left. Ramon has drained a couple 3s. Still giving up baskets in the paint. There seems little urge from Young or Blair to challenge shots. More afraid of drawing fouls and not getting to score later. Rebounding is solid, at least.

1:20: DePaul is so bad defensively. Leaving Pitt’s perimeter wide open. Benjamin with another 3 and a +1.

Now Pitt getting a quick little spurt.

Pitt up 68-56, with under 13 minutes.

1:33: The good news for Pitt’s offense. 5 players already in double figures — Benjamin, Fields, Blair, Young and Brown. Ramon has 9 points. At least on offense, the wealth is being spread.

Still struggling with the whole defense. Pitt leads 77-68 with 8:04 left.

1:39: Ramon with a basket puts him in double digits as well.

6:34 left Pitt up 84-70.

1:50: Not much to say since Pitt is taking care of DePaul with a 91-76 lead with under 4 to go.

The offense had their way with DePaul, as expected. As I’ve said over and over today, the defense is the issue and that still doesn’t look good.

1:53: In comes senior walk-on Maurice Polen. Go, ‘Mo!

1:59: Pitt cruises 98-79 final.
Also really good news, the women’s team just upset Notre Dame  in the Women’s BE Tournament quarterfinals!

Every body ready? There may be some gaps as I try to duck parental responsibilities to yell obscenities at the TV.

7:05: sloppy. You expect that to some extent from WVU on senior night early. But Pitt?

7:08: I know Smalligan is a senior in his last game, but they do have to call his fouls.

7:12: 13-9 highlights then Ramon burying the 3. Good times.

7:19: Nichols heading to the bench with 2 fouls. I’m shocked. This looks like a game where the officials will be whistling in favor of the home team.

7:25: Gilbert Brown playing with a lot more confidence and aggressiveness.

7:29: The Mountaineers are really going at Pitt’s guards inside. Getting the calls.

7:39: I can see Dixon getting a tech in this game with the way it is being called.

7:44: Unbelievable. I spend all season keeping cool about the refs. Trying to give them the benefit of the doubt — as long as there is some consistency and it isn’t too blatant in the homecourt sway. This one, though is killing me. Every aggressive move to the basket gets a foul called on the defense. Then it changes. Fields called for an offensive foul driving to the hoop.

29-25 WVU with 3:41 to halftime.

8:01: It’s halftime. Pitt trails 40-30.

Good news, Pitt has only attempted 4 3s. Bad news, they still haven’t made one.

Major foul issues in the first half. Blair, Ramon and Young with 2 fouls. Brown has 3. Astoundingly it is 12-11 in foul calls. Of course WVU has its foul calls a bit more diffused. I still haven’t figured out how the refs are calling this game.

Pitt’s bigger problem has been turning the ball over. 10 turnovers in the first half. Fewer opportunities for Pitt.

Despite being down 10, Pitt can take the second half. Blair has to stay out of foul trouble, though, and a couple 3s have to be knocked down. Not to mention make those easy buckets inside — go up stronger.

8:15: That isn’t exactly the start to the second half Pitt needed. Missing shots, Blair with a dumb offensive foul on a pick (late whistle, but it was a foul), too aggressive on defense leaving the WVU players with easy looks after a simple fake.

Now down 45-30.

8:20: The Pitt players are visibly frustrated. Dixon is going to have to use up all the timeouts in the first 5 minutes.

8:31: I don’t think I’ve ever seen spurtability in foul calling. They call several on Pitt. Then a few on  WVU.

Joe Alexander is killing it tonight for WVU.