Woke up this morning feeling good. This, despite staying up way too long trying to let the alcohol work its way out of my system and trying to come down from the game. Big wins do that. They carry over and just make things better.

I was thinking about how Villanova out rebounded Pitt. The key was not that Nova was so good inside — outside of Yarou. It was that the inside guys for Nova, weren’t trying to corral it right away. They were playing tip-drill. Bounce it around, keep it out of Pitt’s hands, and get it outside where there was space.

Aside from the rebounding, Pitt just did a little more a little better than Villanova. Pitt shot a little better than Villanova overall. They got to the free throw line more than Nova. They turned the ball over less. They passed the ball better.

And most importantly, Pitt never let the moment, the game, the surroundings overwhelm them.

It keeps coming back to the Armwood cheap shot on Robinson. A moment where Pitt kept its cool, and then took apart the Wildcats. And by the way, you have to love local papers when they want to downplay something. It was a turning point moment, and here’s the most graphic way Philly media describes a crucial play:

Things got ugly during one stretch in the game when tempers flared on both sides. Isaiah Armwood  hit one of the Panthers in the face, as he was putting his arm around the neck of teammate Mouphtaou Yarou.  It caused a skirmish and some pushing, but the referees and coaches kept calm and Armwood was whistled for a technical foul.

Pittsburgh which is a team known for the toughness, seemed to come to life after that incident.

Purely an accident. Right? Sadly, more commonly there was an exclusion of the entire action, save the end result.

Villanova led 32-27 with 16:20 left, but after the Wildcats’ Isaiah Armwood picked up a technical foul, the Panthers went on a 19-4 run, punctuated by a thunderous dunk from Pitt center Gary McGhee.

The sad thing, in the above, is that the article was focused on how Villanova didn’t settle down.

“They just need to play a calmer half of basketball,” Ryan Howard explained, turning to press row.

Villanova did not heed the advice of the Phillies’ slugger for large chunks of the final 20 minutes. Instead, it was visiting Pitt that looked mostly calm and composed on its way to a 57-54 victory, much to the chagrin of Howard and the rest of Nova Nation.

Yet the primary example of how the Wildcats were unable to keep cool was glossed over. Classic.

Or this.

The Wildcats led through much of the first half and by 32-27 following two free throws by Yarou with 16:22 left to play. But on the same play that sent Yarou to the line, a technical was assessed against ‘Nova’s Isaiah Armwood, and the subsequent two free throws by Gilbert Brown touched off a 15-2 run for the Panthers.

I believe this might be considered a whitewashing.

Dick Weiss of the NY Daily News is cautiously optimistic about Pitt’s chances.

Dana O’Neill at ESPN.com made the punch the centerpiece and metaphor for what Pitt does in her story.

Another day at the office, Pittsburgh declared.

Pitt always has been the sort of team that prides itself on taking an opponent’s best punch and responding. The Panthers typically mean that in the figurative sense.

Apparently they can take the literal body blows, too.

“He reached around Yarou and extended his arm,’’ Robinson said. “It was definitely intentional, a cheap shot. But that sort of stuff happens every day in practice. We get bloody noses, black eyes, you name it. It doesn’t matter. We just let the refs call it and keep playing.’’

And of course, playing and winning this week without the deep threat.

In the past, the Panthers sort of looked to survive without their star, finding a way to piecemeal their way to enough success while their injured player mended.

This time Dixon sent a much simpler message: relax.

“We’ve emphasized that since day one, that there’s no need to do anything differently,’’ Dixon said. “We’ve practiced without him, played without him. We don’t have to make it more than it is.’’

Echoed Wanamaker, “We were confident. We knew without Ashton somebody would have to step up but that didn’t meant someone had to fill Ashton’s shoes. We just had to go play our game.’’

And in arguably two of the toughest environments they’ll face this year — at backyard brawl rival West Virginia and at “College GameDay” juiced Villanova — the Panthers did exactly that.

And here’s O’Neill interviewing Nas after the game.