Wow. Pitt never trailed or was tied in this game. In the second half, the Hoyas never got closer than 3 points. As Dixon said in the post-game interview with Bilas, this team is just getting better. They keep practicing, they keep working. They weren’t going to focus on who wasn’t there.
It was a great gameplan against Georgetown. Make it harder to get the pass inside, deny the entry, don’t sleep on the backdoor cuts. Make Georgetown settle for jumpers and feel pressed to shoot rather than make that extra pass. Sounds simple, but Pitt executed it so well.

So here are some of the notes I took down during the game.

Right from the start, there could be an argument that Georgetown will have a problem with Pitt. Not because Pitt got out to an 8-2 start. It’s because Georgetown doesn’t press. It’s guards don’t do that. Their defensive style is to wait in the halfcourt and frustrate teams. That’s something Pitt can handle.

The bad news early was that Sam Young decided he should be taking the 3s early.

Good news, the refs were going to let this be a real Big East game. There were no fouls called on either side until under 14 minutes to go in the game.

Throughout the entire first half, Pitt was focused on this game. There was intensity and fire. What wasn’t there was recklessness or letting emotion get the better of them. I don’t know if it came from the Oakland Zoo to the team or the Zoo recognized and was with it. It just was so clear that there was a connection.

About halfway through the game, Pitt was leading but had missed a lot of shots. That was fine by me because Pitt had a 6-0 offensive rebounding advantage at that point. More shots, more chances. Pitt was just getting to the ball. Keep getting chances and more shots were going to fall.

Ramon was able to come off a couple of great screens to hit some big threes. I am/was a big Aaron Gray fan. That said, with a guy like Blair. So much more athletic and quick that creates some real flexibility for Pitt. Blair was able to come out to the perimeter to set those screens to free Ramon. That has been something Ramon has needed this year. A chance to get free for his shot. It seems Pitt has been working on the screens to get him free and they were paying off tonight.

Gary McGhee learned a hard lesson tonight about how much more he has to learn. He was completely unable to handle being inside against Hibbert. He picked up two very, very quick fouls and then a third almost as soon as he came back in the second half. 3 fouls in 2 minutes. I want to see him get in the rotation and learn more, but I don’t think I’ll be second-guessing Dixon too hard in games where McGhee sees very limited or mop-up minutes only.

Pitt was just so physical with Georgetown. Not dirty, just going hard and not giving ground. Wallace and Ewing, Jr. both struggled with it. DaJuan Summers got very frustrated and picked up 3 fouls in the first half. He was completely taken off his game. Huge since the heir apparent to Green was unable to do much.
At halftime, both Digger Phelps and Stacey Dales were all about how Georgetown was in a great position down only 1 — #%^@*&! halfcourt 3 at the buzzer. Why? Because G-town was shooting 50% while Pitt had shot only 33.3%.

There was barely a cursory acknowledgment that Pitt was leading because they had many more shot attempts thanks to superior offensive rebounding and second chance points. What amused me, was that the extra shots thanks to better offensive rebounding and fewer turnoevers was exactly why G-town avoided being upset by UConn a couple days ago.

The second half, not only saw Pitt still get to the ball faster and have the chances. Pitt started hitting more shots inside. They killed the Hoyas when they went into a zone. There was a clear comfort zone for Pitt from about the free throw line to about 3 feet further inside for Pitt to drop open jumpers. Pitt now has inside guys — Young, Blair and Biggs — who can hit in that area.

More of Pitt’s shots were falling with the open space and Georgetown, got frustrated and rushed more shots.

At halftime of the OK-KS game, they got to the Pitt highlights and of course there was no acknowledgment of how off they were on what they thought. Instead it was about how Pitt dominated on the offensive boards. Hindsight dictated how important that was.

Phelps also spoke of the tremendous job Coach Dixon has done in keeping Pitt focused on the court. Not whining about the injuries or using it as an excuse.

Keith W. here, reentering the blog-o-sphere. Some of you may recognize my name from the comments or from when I’ve written posts here back in the day. I have been on hiatus for some time, however, via Chas’ generosity, I am now back and will be your host for tonight’s game.

I’ll spare you any further introduction until a later date. Any tips, complaints, praise (HA!) that you’d like to get to me but don’t want to put in the comments you are welcome to send my way via e-mail to KWBlather-at-gmail.com.

Chas gave us the media recap this morning and this afternoon while Dennis recently posted an excellent breakdown of the matchups.

Something to discuss until tip off: the Pitt women are back in the AP Top 25 for the first time since the preseason.

With Pittsburgh’s return to the Top 25, the Big East has six teams ranked for the first time since the first poll of the regular season.

“We had a great week,” said Pitt coach Agnus Berenato, whose team beat Syracuse and Cincinnati last week. “We all have to play each other in this conference and everybody is really good.”

The Panthers (13-3), who are 3-0 in the conference for the first time since the 1993-94 season, don’t play again until hosting Providence on Saturday.

Kudos to the women.

Returning to the men’s side, Pitt is back up to No. 15 in the AP Poll while Georgetown is No. 5.

Time to go shovel the driveway (13 inches of fresh snow here in Maine). I’ll be back for the pregame. Until then, comment away.

6:30 – I’ve been checking out Ken Pomeroy’s efficiency stats for each team.

Pitt (as expected) is highly ranked in blocks and offensive rebounds, however, they are not so great when it comes to getting to the line and shooting free throws.

Georgetown is just plain scary when you look at its efficiency numbers. They are ranked No. 1 in effective field goal percentage and No. 2 when it comes to its opponents percentage. They Hoyas don’t go to the FT line often and when they do they miss more often than almost any team in the country.

6:37 – It will be interesting to see how Pitt’s young guys react to tonight’s atmosphere. The Duke game in the garden was big time, but this will be different. The Zoo will be electric and the young studs are now playing a much bigger role. I’d actually like to see the team start off without much emotion. The bench has been shortened considerably making the Panthers unable afford foul trouble. If anyone gets early whistles it’ll be a big problem. As with most Big East games, how the game is called could play a big role. Georgetown has enough depth that theyw can afford some foul trouble. Pitt no longer has that luxury. As always, I expect to see a comment or two (or 50) about the officiating.

7:03 – Blair backs Hibbert into the paint for the first two. If the rest of the country doesn’t know who this kid is, they may know after tonight.

As Stuart alluded to in the comments, the non-Zoo crowd has yet to fill out at all. Lets hope it does.

7:09 – Blair gets caught out of position on D, but Gilbert Brown gives some great help to stop Hibbert. I’ve always found Hibbert to be a bit soft.

7:12 – Cook and Fields look asleep on the bench. Sheesh. FYI, according to Ken Pom only 29.8 percent of Pitt’s field goal attempts have been from beyond the arc this season, ranking the Panthers 273rd in the country. Pitt has already taken four (and made two) tonight.

7:16 – My first beer tonight is a Dogfish Head 90 Minute IPA. MMMmm Mmm Good.

7:17 – 8-6 Pitt. I’d like to see better shot selection from the Panthers. Sam Young needs to get going. Send it in JEROME!!!

7:20 – Biggs takes it right in front of Hibbert, using his body to prevent the block. Great move by Biggs while Hibbert again appears soft. The basket ends a streak of nine straight misses by the Panthers, who, to their credit, are still up by three.

7:24 – Since I am not local, I haven’t gotten to see many Pitt game’s on TV. It’s obvious by the number Pitt hasn’t had a big man with as much talent as Blair since Chris Taft, but wow their personality and effort couldn’t be ANYMORE different. Thankfully.

7:34 – And 1 for Blair, who misses the FT. Nice to see some things have remained the same since I left Pitt. Momentum heads back G-Towns way in the next possesion with a 3-pointer, still, Pitt is playing scrappy and has a two-point lead.

7:36 – So much for Georgetown having the momentum. Beautiful 3 with the shot clock at zero by Ramon.

7:41 – Sam Young goes 1-for-2 from the line, but is still without a field goal with under 3-minutes to play in the half.

7:42 – Pitt has slowed its pace considerably, using up almost the entire shot clock on its last two possessions.

7:54 – Halftime: Are you kidding? We’ll be seeing that one a few more times this week. Despite the half-court heave Pitt is still up by one at the half. However, Pitt needs to improve if it is going to win this game. The Panthers are shooting 33 (10-30) while Georgetown is 11-22.

According to Pitt’s stat tracker it is dominating the glass, 21 (11 offensive) to 14 (1 off.), which is keeping the game close.

8:05 – Tenacious D (good band) by Blair and than Ramon to force the shot clock violation.

8:08 – A three by Ramon and and steal by Blair. Pitt is making the game’s first run. And a 3-pointer by Benjamin! Great to see him knock one down after he had at least two great looks rattle out.

8:11 – As asked about in the comments, here is a link to the latest recruiting update on AJ Alexander. No word yet on the results.

8:18 – I am beginning to get word on the message boards that football recruit AJ Alexander has chosen Pitt. Nothing official yet, but it is looking very good.

8:21 – Another 3-pointer by Ramon and things are looking good for the Panthers, up 11. If I didn’t know better I’d think Pitt was the far superior team…

8:25 – Blair with a Krauser-like running floater in the paint.

8:27 – Sorry for the continuous football info, but here is a link that confirms Alexander going to Pitt.

8:28 Ewing with a huge slam as Georgetown pulls back within five. Looks like we (myself include) need to get our heads back in the game.

8:30 – Blair is an animal on the glass, going back up strong with Young’s missed 3-pointer. How does Hibbert get dominated in the paint so badly? Anyone? Update: Hibbert was on the bench. A clear answer to my question.

8:31 – There’s Pitt’s highlight of the night. I liked Benjamin’s choice taking it on his own… and somehow it paid off.

8:44 – Typical Big East officiating tonight, which I am not complaining about. The two big guys in the paint, Blair and Hibbert, have combined for only two fouls. Perhaps you can call that a lack of aggression, but I think the style will favor both players in post-season play with the games are called much, MUCH tighter.

8:44 – Get your Tums ready, this game is looking like it may come down to FT shooting *gulp*.

8:50 – I think I jinxed Blair with my comment on fouls. Wow. Tough, tough calls.

8:54 -On one possession Young hits the rafters for a defensive rebound. On the next possession Hibbert loses an offensive rebound with his feet glued to the floor. A huge reason why Pitt has 17 offensive boards.

A 3-pointer by Benjamin gives Pitt it’s biggest lead of the night. This one is OVER. What a win.

9:00 – Final 69-60. Thanks to everyone who played along in the comments. What a win for the Panthers. I think Pitt can basically count on making the NCAA tournament. All that talk of them maybe not getting in following the injuries was WAY premature.

What a coaching job by Jamie Dixon. They way the Panther’s played I could not tell at all they were two starters. Almost a seamless transition.  Amazing. A great game to build on.

Just too much in the offline world to do them justice. I’m on DVR delay again with my thoughts — weeknights have been hell. Keith W. will be taking the reigns for tonight’s liveblog.

The Washington Times takes the, um, Pitt sucks and is talking too much view.

Bob Smizik strangely is positive about Pitt by pretending people believed Pitt’s season was over and they were going in the tank after Fields went down. Huh?

Sam Young gets a puff piece in his semi-local paper, the Washington Post.

Big Pitt theme is that the team is still evolving with the injuries and who is out there.

Obviously from a talent challenge this is probably Pitt’s biggest test — against Duke, Pitt was still at full strength.

More Blair versus Hibbert stuff.

Georgetown started peaking last season when they beat Pitt at the Verizon Center.

This game headlines the Rivals.com games to watch this week.

The Van Buren Boys (G-town blog) are a little concerned about this game.

Here’s the Big East Basketball blog preview and prediction for the game.

So you might recall the last time we played Georgetown. Roy Hibbert and Jeff Green destroyed us, Aaron Gray played the worst 40 minutes of basketball ever seen, and we lost the Big East championship game. Green moved on to the NBA but Roy Hibbert decided to stick around, and his matchup with DeJuan Blair will obviously get much of the attention.

Roy Hibbert vs. DeJuan Blair. With all the momentum Hibbert has coming into the game, defense, not offense, is a point of emphasis here. Blair averages nearly 13 rebounds a game in conference play and rebounds are essential for Pitt to control the game. [Hoya Saxa]

What concerns me the most is Georgetown’s point guard, Jonathan Wallace. He’s a step (or two or three) faster than Ronald Ramon, which can create space for Wallace to either hit threes or force another Pitt defender to play help defense — which in turn opens up another man.

The rest of the Hoya starting lineup will probably be:

G — Wallace
G — Jessie Sapp — will be covering Benjamin on defense, is quick enough to force turnovers
F — Austin Freeman — Only a freshman and smaller than Gilbert Brown who will probably be covering him. One of the few times Brown might have the advantage in a matchup all year.
F — DaJuan Summers — Essentially the same role that Jeff Green played
C — Hibbert

Georgetown is ranked 5th in the nation with a 13-1 overall record with a 3-0 mark in Big East games over Rutgers, DePaul, UConn. The win over UConn came in the final seconds when Roy Hibbert hit a three pointer (seriously! video here). Their only real test came from #2 Memphis (at Memphis) where Hibbert was help to 6 points and the entire team looked over matched. Most of the game was the Chris Douglas-Roberts show for Memphis, and he finished with 24 points.

There are some grumblings that Terelle Pryor might be in attendance. It’s been my opinion that ever since Rich Rodriguez told Pryor before any of his own players about his departure to Michigan than he was planning on following RichRod there. I think he is still considering Pitt in the back of his head, but I doubt we’ll get him. Anyways, a friend pointed out he really might just be using this as a way for tickets to the hoops game — a tactic used by an old friend… Anthony Morelli.

Before the Seton Hall game, I said that the NJ media was too busy with the Giants to bother with the Pirates. Turns out, I was way more right than I knew. The NJ Star-Ledger story on the game was farmed out to Pitt’s P-G beat writer Ray Fittipaldo. The focus was on the loss of Brian Laing in the second half. Interestingly, in his recap for the P-G there was only a passing reference to Laing insofar as he kept the Pirates in the game in the first half. Obviously for Pitt-centric readers the story was Sam Young’s game.

Young not only was dominant inside, but he stepped out and made all four of his 3-point attempts. Young has developed into one of Pitt’s top outside shooters. With his perfect performance yesterday, he is shooting 52.6 percent (20 for 38) from 3-point range for the season.

“He just keeps getting better,” Dixon said. “He’s improving in every area. He was a complete non-shooter coming out of high school. That was the question about him. Even coming out of prep school, people didn’t think he could shoot it. Now he goes 4 for 4, and we’re running plays for him to come off screens and shoot 3s.”

Seton Hall could not handle Blair on the blocks. He had five rebounds in the first four minutes and got stronger. He was 6 for 9 from the field and 8 for 12 from the free-throw line.

After playing half a season together, Young and Blair are beginning to develop excellent chemistry.

“You could see them interacting early on in the season and you could see how they enjoyed playing with each other,” Dixon said. “That’s not normally the case with a young guy like that. They know where each other is now. They have a good feel for each other on the offensive end.”

Not to mention the success on the inside, means more open looks outside.

“We took what we could,” said Keith Benjamin, who made all three of his 3-pointers in the second half after going 0 for 2 before halftime. “Sam and DeJaun are so good at kicking it back to who’s open.

“Inside out … that’s how you want to play basketball.”

Seven of Pitt’s first eight shots were from the outside. All eight went in. It was a masterful shooting performance more because it was unexpected than perfect.

Blair, Young and reserve forward Tyrell Biggs stretched Seton Hall’s inside defense to 10-12 feet and beyond. Young hit four 3-pointers. Blair showed some outside touch with a 13-footer to open the second half. Biggs found his groove with a couple of 15-foot swishes early in the second.

Young, Blair and Biggs were all but a few points of the offense in the first half. The second half was also when Keith Benjamin snapped out of a bad first half. The kind that would have Trevor Matich calling him “Bad Keith” if he played football.

Riding a wave of emotion and brimming with confidence, Benjamin didn’t expect Saturday’s first half to come crashing down on him. He missed all three of his shots, and his two 3-point attempts were nowhere close. He committed three turnovers, the bane of the Panthers since Fields went down.

“My adrenaline was pumping from the last three games. I was a little fast, and the bad ones put me in a funk,” Benjamin said. “In the second half, I was being more patient, more decisive

In the first seven minutes of the second half, which started with Pitt up only three, Benjamin hit two 3-pointers, has four assists and added a steal and a rebound. It was part of a game that saw Benjamin get 12 points and a career-best six assists.

“He made some decisions that aren’t typical of him,” coach Jamie Dixon said. “(In the second half), he waited for his shots.”

Benjamin just seems to be showing a lot more maturity about himself and playing these days.

Of course there was little time to discuss this as things move to the Monday night game. The opener of ESPN’s Big Monday with Georgetown coming.

Their mini-resurgence sets the stage for Georgetown, which beat Pitt two out of three games last season and denied the Panthers the Big East regular-season and tournament crowns with a pair of victories in a 14-day span.

Tipoff for their only regular-season meeting is 7 p.m.

“We think about it all the time,” senior guard Ronald Ramon said. “That was a ring that was taken away from us. It’s behind us now. It’s definitely a challenge. They are coming into our house. We’ve got to protect our house.”

Georgetown has kept winning, but has had some close games including just getting past UConn on Saturday.

DeJuan Blair is excited about a chance to go up against Roy Hibbert.

“He’s a big dude, an excellent player, man,” Blair said. “I can’t say nothin’ about him. He’s a good idol. I’m not saying he’s my idol, but he’s a good player to look up to. It seems like he’s a good guy. I like him.”

Pitt coach Jamie Dixon was asked if Blair thrives in big-game atmospheres.

“I haven’t seen him dislike too many atmospheres,” Dixon said, laughing. “He seems to be smiling every time I see him. I’ve never really seen him in a bad mood. I think he’ll have fun. I think he’ll have a good time.”

Blair going against Hibbert seems to be a theme.

Blair will be tempted to use that big booty to push around Hibbert, but he has to be careful of foul trouble. If he can’t play 30-35 minutes, Pitt will get beat. Write it down.

“You just have to be smart,” Blair said. “Don’t reach in. Keep your feet and play strong. Try not to let him get the ball inside. Try to keep him outside.”

Blair figures to get his points against Hibbert. Many come on put-backs after his rebounds.

Write it down. Ron Cook has used his allotment of the term “booty” for 2008.