I guess it’s okay that Pitt players are saying they want another shot at Notre Dame in the Big East Tournament — as long as they are focused on what they need to do to get to that point. It makes me a little nervous about looking past games. Especially when UConn should have a bit of a chip on their shoulder about playing Pitt. The Huskies haven’t beaten Pitt since 2008. Pitt is 4-0 the last three years against UConn. There’s some curiosity on the UConn side about how things will go this time.
“I really just want to see our reactions against Pittsburgh,” UConn coach Jim Calhoun said. “Because our reactions the first time were young. And we can’t have young reactions (today) because we can’t beat them if we have that type of game. We have to kind of man up a little bit.”
The Panthers (27-4), as has often been the case under coach Jamie Dixon, have a strong, physical team.
“We know we have the toughest opponent in the league coming up,” Calhoun said. “But that’s what you play for, to get there.”
Pitt is still talking about getting off to better starts.
March entering the one-and-done phase, Ashton Gibbs says the Panthers can’t afford any more slow starts. Pitt is averaging 22.7 points in the first half in its past three games and has trailed at halftime in six of its past 10. “We’ve got to start games better,” Gibbs said. “The last couple games, we haven’t been starting off as well as we should have. I think if we start off good, we will be fine.”
