Another stand-by for any road game. Find the players and coaches from the area. Max Gruder got that treatment when Pitt visited Raleigh earlier in the year. It’s a redux as he actually comes back to the city where he lived.

There will be visits to old stomping grounds, dinner with old friends and one demanding task – finding enough tickets.

“My parents are coming up from Tampa and they needs about 12 tickets,” said Gruder, a 6-foot-2, 230 pounder who was a two-way standout at Country Day and named first team all-N.C. Independent School Athletic Association as a senior.

“And then there are all my friends in Charlotte. Man, I need about a million tickets, I think,” he said. “When we step on the Country Day field to practice, I think that will be the first time since I stepped off my senior year.”

Then there is OC Frank Cignetti, who spent a year as OC at UNC in the final year of the Frank Bunting era. So he knows some of the players.

Starting linebacker Quan Sturdivant is another player whom Cignetti helped bring to North Carolina. In Sturdivant’s case, Cignetti was the assistant coach primarily responsible for recruiting him. That meant Cignetti made home visits with Sturdivant’s family and showed him around campus.

“Coach Frank, I remember him well,” Sturdivant said. “I remember thinking to myself that he was the most organized coach I had ever seen. He was on top of everything, he was really organized and that made a big impression on me.

“Plus, he was good at talking. I was a quarterback and I knew I wasn’t going to be playing quarterback in college, but he kept making me feel like I had a shot. That told me that he really wanted me to come to North Carolina.

“It will be cool to play against him, but it will be a challenge because he has built a very strong offense with a great running game.”

Cignetti’s stay at North Carolina was short and mostly because that one season he was there — 2006 — the Tar Heels finished 3-9 and Bunting, along with his staff, was fired.

But it’s a hook for storylines.

Over on the UNC side of things, the Tarheels have to do damage control after the disappointment of ending up in Charlotte again (Insider subs).

Even with that, UNC still figured to be headed to the Music City Bowl to play Kentucky. But because of the shuffle created by a back-room deal that sent Florida State to the Gator Bowl in honor of coach Bobby Bowden’s retirement, the Tar Heels got relegated to the Meineke Car Care Bowl for the second year in a row and the third time in five seasons. Coach Butch Davis and his players would rather be anywhere else in the world than back in nearby Charlotte on the day after Christmas…

That meme has made the rounds. To the point where Butch Davis had to respond with the appropriate denial.

“Absolutely our team wants to be here,” Davis said in advance of the Saturday game against Pittsburgh. “We’re trying to build a program and make going to bowl games a yearly event.

“Certainly coming to Charlotte, where a lot of people might say they’re disappointed because they were here last year, in some respects that’s good for us because so many of our kids are from North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia. Their families can come and be a part of this. I think it’s very good.”

We’re thrilled, dammit.

Not too high over the wins and not too low over the losses. That is how I am trying to treat the games this season. Otherwise by blood pressure will not be able to handle things.

So, I’ll start with the poor mouthing. Ohio isn’t very good. They were picked to finish last in the MAC-East by a lot of preseason pubs. So beating and even pounding on them the way Pitt did should not have been completely unexpected.

Now, the turnovers. The box score shows that Pitt had 21 turnovers. Sloppy and suggesting that Pitt could have really killed the Bobcats. Breaking down the turnovers a bit, Pitt committed 7 in the first half. Not great but tolerable compared to where Pitt had been. Pitt started out the second half with roughly the same rate. Through almost 9 minutes Pitt had 3 turnovers.

At that point, Pitt was up 21 points. Over the final 11+ minutes, Pitt had 11 turnovers and still won by 25. As Coach Dixon put it.

“That was the only drawback,” Dixon said. “We got careless with the ball. The disappointing thing was we were good at it until late.”

Well, I wouldn’t say “good,” so much as slightly better than it has been.

Jermaine Dixon and Nasir Robinson had 3 turnovers each in that final 11. Travon Woodall and Gilbert Brown had 2 each and Brad Wanamaker had 1.

Otherwise it was a very good night for Pitt, with the overriding story the return of Gilbert Brown.

“I definitely put in hard work and effort to make sure I came back in shape and prepared to contribute to the team,” he said.

Brown is Pitt’s most experienced player, and his presence on the floor made a big impression on his teammates.

“Gil is a great player,” sophomore guard Ashton Gibbs said. “I think he gave us a lot of energy. We’re expecting big things from him, and I think there is more to come.”

Gibbs led all scorers with 15 points. It was his 10th game in double figures. Jermaine Dixon scored a season-high 14 points and Nasir Robinson registered 10, sinking all five attempts from the field. Junior guard Brad Wanamaker contributed an unconventional double-double with 10 rebounds and 10 assists.

Brown looked a little out of sorts when he initially came in. He committed 2 fouls in 2:32, definitely trying to feel his way. Then after a little more time on the bench, Coach Dixon surprised us all by sticking Brown back for the final 4:28 of the first half. He was much more settled and really got into the flow of the game.

Despite committing 21 turnovers, the Panthers finished the game with a season-high 26 assists on their 29 field goals, prompting Jermaine Dixon to call the timing of their holiday break “unfortunate.”

“But I’m sure when everybody gets back, we’re going to get at it,” he said.

Brown showed little signs of rust in his debut, shooting 4 of 4 from the field, including 2 of 2 from 3-point range. He switched from small forward, which he played each of the previous two seasons, to power forward, splitting time with Robinson.

“It was a big adjustment, actually, coming into this first game, switching positions,” Brown said. “Having a thorough understanding of the offense helped me get through it.”

Playing Brown at power forward worked well in this game. It still means a rather small line-up for Pitt. He looked a lot better than I expected in his return. His suspension was the type where he could not practice or workout with the team or coaches. That goes all the way down to what he was eating as well. I really didn’t expect that solid a performance, but I also would not be surprised to see him struggle in the next game.

The reduced minutes for Robinson seemed to light a fire under him. It seemed to finally hit him that his minutes will be impacted with Brown’s return, and if he doesn’t improve it won’t get better. Robinson started the game and came out hot. Finishing all his shots and getting after things.

Jermaine Dixon really looked his best to date. He did not seem as winded despite playing 25 minutes. He was penetrating and finishing. Definitely not looking as hesitant.

Wanamaker had another good game even with only 4 points on 2-8 shooting and 4 turnovers (tied with Woodall and Robinson for highs in the game). He played a team high 34 minutes and had 10 asssists, 10 rebounds and 2 steals. That’s 17 assists in the last 2 games.

With some of the pressure to score off him now that Dixon and Brown are back, Wanamaker seemed to comfortably take more of a supporting and help role.

He has led the redoubled defensive effort for Pitt after the break for finals, and has been the good soldier for Coach Dixon with what the coach wants the team to do. Whether it is be the penetrating/slashing guard attacking the basket. Going after boards and helping to tighten the defense. Or be more of a facilitator.

Dante Taylor looked as comfortable as I’ve seen him at the center position. I’m not sure, but I think the message — whether in talking to Coach Dixon or reading Dixon’s comments —  finally got through to him. He’s not going to get to play power forward until he shows more. He has to play better defense and have better footwork. He grabbed 10 boards and had 2 blocks in 18 minutes. Not particularly solid on offense, but that will come.

McGhee played just a little more (21 min) than Taylor and definitely was moving well. He was 3-3 with two slams. He had only 5 boards but also 5 blocks.

Most importantly, McGhee and Taylor had 0 turnovers. An actual positive amidst the volume of TOs.

The near week off for the players is not a bad thing. It means more practice. Something they need — with Jermaine Dixon and Brown  there to help push them.