Just Because. Pitt basketball had the #3 defense in the country:

1. AIR FORCE 28 22-6 1412 50.4
2. PRINCETON 27 20-7 1525 56.5
3. PITTSBURGH 33 29-4 1869 56.6
4. WISCONSIN 30 24-6 1700 56.7

Chevon Troutman was tied for #4 in FG%:

1. N. Harris UTAH ST 28 132 193 .684
2. N. Dixon WESTERN KY 28 179 264 .678
3. S. Finn DAYTON 32 168 249 .675
4. C. McNaughton BUCKNELL 29 142 215 .660
4. C. Troutman PITTSBURGH 32 124 188 .660

Pitt was #7 in winning percentage for the regular season:

1. STANFORD 29-1 .967
2. SAINT JOSEPHS 27-1 .964
3. GONZAGA 27-2 .931
4. OKLAHOMA ST 27-3 .900
5. MISSISSIPPI ST 25-3 .893
6. UTAH ST 25-3 .893
7. PITTSBURGH 29-4 .879
8. KENTUCKY 26-4 .867

#9 in Scoring Margin of Victory:

1. GONZAGA 82.3 65.9 16.4
2. SAINT JOSEPHS 77.8 61.5 16.3
3. OKLAHOMA ST 78.7 63.3 15.4
4. CONNECTICUT 79.1 63.9 15.2
5. DUKE 79.8 65.0 14.8
6. CINCINNATI 76.9 62.9 14.0
7. WESTERN MICH 78.5 65.2 13.3
8. STANFORD 73.9 60.7 13.2
9. PITTSBURGH 69.2 56.6 12.6
10. LOUISVILLE 73.3 60.9 12.4

Julius Page was #3 in the country in total minutes played:

Romain Sato, Xavier 1206
Andre Emmett, Texas Tech 1179
Julius Page, Pittsburgh 1171

To really blow your mind (and lend credence to my theory that Pitt was just gassed in the last few games) Pitt was #15 in field goal shooting percentage (FG%)

1. GONZAGA 842 1635 51.5
2. OKLAHOMA ST 875 1703 51.4
3. UTAH ST 686 1342 51.1
4. MURRAY ST 977 1969 49.6
5. MICHIGAN ST 725 1464 49.5
6. CHATTANOOGA 861 1751 49.2
7. SAMFORD 644 1317 48.9
8. BYU 738 1514 48.7
9. PRINCETON 616 1268 48.6
10. ARIZONA 914 1885 48.5
11. STANFORD 796 1644 48.4
12. LAFAYETTE 731 1513 48.3
13. FLORIDA 808 1674 48.3
14. AIR FORCE 568 1177 48.3
15. PITTSBURGH 849 1760 48.2
16. BIRMINGHAM SOU 680 1412 48.2

Just some things to pass along in 3 sports.

PSB favorite Shawntae Spencer, senior CB, has been moving quickly up the draft boards. He is now considered to have an outside shot at being drafted before the end of the 1st round. He has moved up on CB rankings ahead of Ohio St.’s Chris Gamble. Not sure what that really says about CB depth in the 2004 NFL draft.

Pitt basketball coach, Jamie Dixon, is on the recruiting trail for 2005. He has offered a scholarship to an NYC kid

Ricky Torres, a 6-foot-4 junior shooting guard from St. Raymond’s High School, received word yesterday that Dixon would like for him to become a Panther.

Torres is coached by Oliver Antigua, who played with the Panthers as a walk-on from 1995-98 and is the brother of Orlando Antigua, Pitt’s director of basketball operations.

He has gotten interest from UConn and NC St., but Pitt is the first to offer him a scholarship.

Finally, according to Baseball America, Pitt will make the baseball NCAA Division I regionals (subs. req’d) to be held June 4-6. There are 16 regionals with 4 teams in each, hosted by the #1 seed for the regional. They project Pitt to be the #3 seed in the Hattiesburg, Mississippi region. #1 — Southern Miss., #2 — Auburn, #4 — Princeton.