Todd Rosiak of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel notes that last year Marquette was able to hold DeJuan Blair in check in both games.

One thing that stands out about both games as far as MU is concerned is the way it was able to hold down 6-foot-7, 265-pound forward DeJuan Blair. In the two games, Blair battled foul trouble en route to averaging just 4.0 points and 4.0 rebounds — obviously a huge boon for MU.

Except that the facts are wrong. Blair was 5-6 for 16 points and 8 boards in the Big East Tournament meeting in 33 minutes (he did have 4 fouls and 4 turnovers). In the embarrassment at the Bradley Center, Blair had 5 rebounds and 6 points in 23 minutes. Again he had 4 fouls and 4 turnovers. So, by my math, he averaged 10 points and 6.5 rebounds. Not great, but a little different. Clearly Rosiak must have meant the fouls and TOs.

The Golden Eagles showed against UConn and Louisville that they aren’t going to just fold and quit without James. Have to assume that Pitt isn’t taking this game for granted. Dominic James was not medically cleared to make the trip with his teammates. He has to suffer back in his crib and watch. Much like us.

Anyhow, there will be a liveblog. I repeat, for best results, view in Chrome. It responds best.

You can find the liveblog RIGHT HERE.

Courtesy of Sports Illustrated

I have to say, SI.com seems to be getting it with the whole outreach thing. The above is the cover for this week’s Sports Illustrated. They e-mailed copy of the article and the cover. Sam Young included with the stars from the other seven teams they see as most capable of winning it all.

As noted by Steve G. and another reader who e-mailed, the WSJ had some features. One on DeJuan Blair, master of the offensive boards.

Mr. Blair isn’t just the best inch-for-inch rebounder in the college ranks this season; he’s also the best Mr. Pomeroy has ever measured by a margin of nearly five percentage points. How Mr. Blair does this isn’t entirely a mystery. He has a better than seven-foot wingspan, and at 265 pounds, he outweighs most NFL tight ends. He’s also built for rebounding with a backside roughly the size of a Nissan.

And the other feature discusses why homecourt advantage in college basketball is so vital compared to any other sport. The Oakland Zoo gets some much deserved love.

Although it’s impossible to prove, activist fans are convinced they’re responsible for their schools’ home records. Pittsburgh, which plays No. 13 Marquette at home tonight, has won 113 of its last 123 home games, due perhaps in part to the Oakland Zoo, the school’s infamous student section. (Oakland is the name of the neighborhood the university is located in.) True to the group’s name, students often don animal costumes for games, but they hardly stop there.

Opposition research has become a prerequisite. Pitt graduate student Dave Jedlicka, the president of the Zoo, proudly recounts how Pitt fans found personal pictures of West Virginia star Kevin Pittsnogle and his wife on Facebook and brandished them at a game in 2006. Mr. Pittsnogle missed all 12 of his shot attempts that day.

“We’ve gotten really good about being witty and effective but not vulgar,” says Mr. Jedlicka. “I’ve only had to do two written apologies.”

And Seth Davis at SI.com has his “glue guys” for ’09.

Jermaine Dixon, 6-3 junior guard, Pittsburgh
Panthers coach Jamie Dixon doesn’t recruit a lot of junior college players, and the last thing his team needed this season was another scorer. Yet, there was something he saw in Jermaine Dixon, even as Jermaine was averaging 18.1 points per game for Tallahassee (Fla.) Community College en route to being one of only two players in the history of that school to score more than 1,000 career points. “It was just the right fit,” Jamie said. “We didn’t have anybody in that class — he’s our only junior now — and we felt he was the right guy that had the mental and physical toughness both to be a good fit. We definitely found the right guy.”

Pittsburgh had an opening in its backcourt starting lineup this season, and Dixon seized the opportunity by giving the team exactly what it needed: a lockdown defender, an athletic finisher on the break, and a timely shooter who wouldn’t commit a lot of turnovers. He has especially excelled on the defensive end, shutting down such high-scoring opponents as Miami’s (Ohio) Michael Bramos (two points), Washington State’s Klay Thompson (seven), Georgetown’s Chris Wright (five) and Notre Dame’s Kyle McAlarney (10). He is also highly versatile, as he demonstrated at West Virginia on Jan. 25, when Dixon started off guarding Mountaineers guard Alex Ruoff, then had to switch to 6-7 forward Da’Sean Butler when his teammate Sam Young got into foul trouble.

As for taking care of the ball, Dixon has been especially remarkable in Big East play, committing just 10 turnovers (to 37 assists) in 16 games…

ANother tough draw tonight against Marquette for him.

Both papers had stories on the good health of the team this year.  Well, yeah.

Luke Winn isn’t picking a winner yet for the NCAA Tournament, but has a top-3 that you should lean towards.

4. Are you a Pitt person, a UConn person or a Carolina person? Those are the only three teams I’d advise picking to win the national championship in your bracket. Vegas still views it as the Tar Heels’ title to lose — it likes them more than three times as much it as it likes the Panthers — but all three are viable options. Which one you pick is a matter of taste: Pitt is a tough, offensive-rebounding monster that can look vulnerable if DeJuan Blair gets in foul trouble; UConn is an athletic, shot-blocking force that’s the stingiest team of the three, but is missing its best perimeter defender, Jerome Dyson; Carolina is a high-octane scoring machine that’s prone to huge lapses in its perimeter D. As of now I’m a UConn person, because I tend to side with the superior defense … but I reserve the right to change tastes before my bracket is filled.

Bob Knight breaks down Pitt’s poor rebounding when Blair is out.

Brandin Knight doesn’t want to hear crap from people.

Nevertheless, skeptics remain. When asked if Pitt needs to advance beyond the Sweet 16 for the season to be considered a success, Knight nearly recoiled from the question.

“Everybody now is like, ‘Oh, yeah, I’m a Pitt fan.’ You might have been a Pitt fan up until Charles Smith and those guys left, and then when things got bad you weren’t a fan anymore,” said Knight, 27. “Now, when you come back when things are going well, as soon as things get a little rocky, those are the people that turn around and are like, ‘Same old Pitt.’

“Everybody has their opinions. For some people, we have to get past the Sweet 16. Well, we have to get past the first round and the second round to get to the Sweet 16. Just getting past the Sweet 16 wouldn’t take this program to the next level. We want to win every game, and we don’t focus more on the Big East Tournament and just throw away the NCAA Tournament. We’re dedicated to winning every game.”

Love that. It just tells you how much the program means to Knight.

For all those wondering what Pitt was doing to get ready to deal with the press and teams trying to strip Pitt.

Pitt has averaged 20.5 turnovers in its past two games, and handling full-court pressure was a focal point at Monday’s practice. The whistles were put away.

“Coach Dixon told the press team to hack us and see how we are going to react,” guard Jermaine Dixon said. “We know we’ve got to cut down on the turnovers.”

Coach Dixon was apparently annoyed that the team spent too much time after turnovers whining at the officials. Let a team like Seton Hall chirp constantly. All it got them was 3 technicals in one game.