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.