Pitt wins the season opener up in New York, 86-67 over Western Michigan.

Aaron Gray had 10 points and 13 rebounds to lead No. 4 Pittsburgh to an 86-67 victory over Western Michigan on Sunday in the inaugural Maggie Dixon Classic. Mike Cook, a transfer from East Carolina making his debut with the Panthers after sitting out last season, was 7-for-11 from the field and had 17 points to lead five scorers in double figures.

Pitt shot over 50% and had the significant rebounding advantage you would expect.

Thanks to all who commented with observations on the game. Also a chance to point out a new Pitt Hoops blog (and it’s in the BE blogroll) being done by Dennis — who has some thoughts on the game. Welcome and glad to have more Pitt blogs.

Noon game on ESPNU. Here are the Game Notes (PDF).
Domestic issues keep me from sneaking to a bar and somehow convincing a Cleveland area bar to give me one screen while the rest blare the Browns-Falcons game. That would be a tough sell around here, and the best argument to muster is the Ohio State women play at 3:30. It’s the trade-off to getting 12 hours or so of uninterrupted college football watching on Saturday. I have to do lots of other stuff on Sunday.

The Broncos are expected to be middle-of-the pack in the MAC. They don’t have a starter over 6′ 7″. The one thing that might make them a bit of a challenge or confusing is that they junked their old offense and are in a new style that Pitt hasn’t scouted or reviewed from old tapes.

Hawkins has, implementing an attack that, in a nutshell, leaves Reitz alone inside and four players on the perimeter — with an emphasis on pushing the ball up the floor and having a fluid inside-out game once the offense enters its halfcourt sets.

Through a month of practice and two exhibition games, the players have been vocal supporters of the change.

“Part of the reason we’re shooting better is we’re getting open shots instead of checked shots,” sophomore forward Derek Drews said after WMU’s second exhibition, during which the Broncos shot better than 48 percent for the second time. “If we don’t get an open shot in transition, we feel we can work our way to the middle and, once we’re in the middle, kick out for more open shots.”

Hawkins said last year’s team would struggle to score if it failed on the fastbreak. That, coupled with limited offensive talent, led to less than 41 percent shooting for the season.

Another player the spread-out attack benefits is Reitz, who averaged 15.5 points as a sophomore despite almost always having four to six hands in his face.

Apparently it got to the point in the MAC last year that teams were calling out exactly what the Broncos were doing as they were setting it up. Joe Reitz is their 6′ 7″ Center/Forward. It should present an early challenge to the perimeter defense and see if the Pitt players can keep the guys outside and from penetrating with the ball.

For Pitt, it’s about the expectations. The team and fans are ready to get this season going (especially after yesterday’s football game). THe team isn’t shying away from expecting big things this season. All the way through the NCAA Tournament.

“I’ve always had unrealistic expectations here,” Dixon said. “When I came here, they told me I had unrealistic expectations. Ben (Howland) told me I had unrealistic expectations. What people think are new expectations, I’ve already been through those and had those.”

Joe Starkey wants to remind everyone to enjoy the ride with all the expectations.

Realize how lucky you are.

Do you know how many teams in the brutal Big East have a better conference winning percentage than Pitt’s during that span? Only Connecticut, at 77.5 percent. Pitt has won 73.8 percent of its Big East games.

Do you know how many teams in the country have a better overall winning percentage? Precisely three. Here are the top five:

• Gonzaga – 84.5

• Duke – 84.3

• Illinois – 81.4

• Pitt – 80.1

• UConn – 79.5

Pitt has reached the championship game of the Big East Tournament four times in the past five years and has an NCAA Tournament record of 7-5, which means you’ve seen more exciting games, more victories, than just about any group of college basketball fans in the country.

Counterpoint, is that all of those other teams made it past the Sweet Sixteen at least once.

But do yourself a favor. Avoid putting too much thought into March. You might miss a lot of memorable nights along the way.

Fair enough. I’m hoping to enjoy this season immensely.

After the Pitt-Western Michigan game, there will be a ceremony to honor the late Maggie Dixon.

Dixon’s parents, Jim and Marge, from North Hollywood, Calif, will be given a pair of Patriot League championship rings.

The team’s Patriot League championship banner and Dixon’s Patriot League Coach of the Year banner will be hoisted to the rafters at 5,000-seat Christl Arena, where they will remain.

This tournament will be moving to MSG next year and become an all-women’s b-ball premeire event.

Today’s double-header features teams with coaches who had some connection to Maggie Dixon.

[WMU Assistant Coach Jeff] Dunlap’s relationship with Maggie Dixon was mostly through Jamie Dixon, whom he grew up playing against in North Hollywood, Calif., and has remained close with through the Complete Player Basketball Camps in southern California, which Dunlap runs.

WMU head coach Steve Hawkins also is friends with Jamie Dixon, with the two having met at Dunlap’s camp.

“They wanted to bring in (coaches) who know the family,” Dunlap said. “Jamie thought it’d be nice for us to come in aand share in this tribute classic for Maggie.

“We wanted to do it for that reason. On the flip side, it helps our program. Hawk and I want to play a nationally respectable schedule. … You have to play people who, on paper, are better than you and go after them. That’s what we’re doing.”

With so much of the Dixon family still living in the New York area, there will be hundreds of friends and family attending.

I still don’t know what to say. I was on the phone with Lee as he described the action to me in the OTs. I saw the replays of the 2-point conversion.

I’ve read the stories in the ‘Burgh dailies. Both said the same sort of thing. Pitt’s offense went way too conservative, way too soon. The defense couldn’t make a tackle. Everything else just filled in around it. They aren’t the fans. They don’t feel the same anger, so I accept that I’m not seeing things particularly unbiased at the moment. So the articles pissed me off because I see them as crap pieces that are being way too nice and nary a peep about how poorly the defense was designed.

Instead, to get a better idea, this from UConn’s Randy Edsall on how D.J. Hernandez went from 51 carries for 69 yards and 47-89 with 6 INT and 3 TDs; to a night with 17 runs for 130 yards plus 20-29, 164 yards and 4 TDs passing.

Edsall said one of the things that had helped Hernandez in this game was that the Panthers didn’t pressure a whole lot with five and six men. And when they did, the Huskies had pretty good protection.

“He had a sense he could stay in the pocket and not get flushed, particularly in the second half,” Edsall said. “He really knew where everything was and had a feeling where everything was. Where he could step up or get inside or outside.”

Yes, because the best thing a defense can do for a young, inexperienced QB is let him have time. Glad to help. Glad that the Pitt defense was unable to pressure or contain. It does wonders for confidence and stats.

Now, if you’re like me, you saw the 2-point conversion and Clint Session take a tremendous leap at Hernandez’s little toe. Rather then try and cut him off or stay upright and just make him throw or run out of bounds.

In Connecticut, and the “Legend of D.J. Hernandez,” the story will be told differently.

The vision of Clint Session swooping in on an unsuspecting D.J. Hernandez brought a moment of silence over the Rentschler Field fans who stuck it out until the end in Saturday’s Big East football marathon.

Hernandez literally grew up in front of the University of Connecticut football faithful, spearheading the “Rally at Rentschler.” Session reached out with his two huge hands and prepared to haul Hernandez to the turf. Then, in a flash, the Pittsburgh senior linebacker lunged toward the UConn quarterback and came up empty.

Or this.

The call was a “bounce” pass play designed with freshman Terence Jeffers as the primary receiver. But Pitt linebacker Clint Session, who made a career-high 15 tackles Saturday, blitzed quickly from Hernandez’s left. Session chased Hernandez from the pocket and took a swipe at the quarterback’s ankles, making contact near the 10-yard line.

Hernandez stumbled but regained his balance and raced to the goal line. By the time he hit the 5, the sophomore knew he was in and raised the ball in triumph.

Jeffers was also covered by Revis who didn’t bite and other stories indicated that’s part of why Hernandez started scrambling.

Crap.