Pitt has staked the early claim to being the underdog against Colorado.

“We have been preaching since the start of the ACC tournament that we are the underdog,” Dixon said. “That was our mentality, that was our thinking and we wanted to play that way.

“But we also talked about playing on the road or playing in neutral court games. We have had great success.”

He pointed out that the Panthers’ 7-2 road record in conference play was the best in the ACC (tied with Virginia).

“We seem to play well on the road. … The key is we have had good focus on the road trips, good preparation and pretty good practices the times we’ve had them.”

It should be easy enough to claim. Colorado is seeded higher than Pitt. Even if it is only 9 vs. 8. The team seems to be buying into it a bit.

But, wait. Colorado isn’t going to let that underdog claim go to Pitt that easy.

Vegas likes Pitt by 5.5 points. So do the stats.

The bookies aren’t the only ones predicting trouble for the Buffs.

Peter Tiernan is, too. Tiernan, who operates the bracketscience.com website and has been studying the NCAA Tournament for 22 years, said his look at the analytics doesn’t bode well for a CU team that will be an underdog in any game it plays.

“They commit more turnovers than they generate, which is not a good stat for an underdog seed,” Tiernan said. “Successful underdog seeds have kind of a high-risk, high-reward strategy. If you look at teams like (Virginia Commonwealth University) in recent years, they turn people over. They try to buy more possessions. Colorado does not seem to be that kind of a team.”

CU’s 0.87 assist-to-turnover ratio is the poorest of the four No. 8 seeds in the tournament. Pittsburgh has a 1.48 assist-to-turnover ratio, which is the best of the No. 9 seeds.

Tiernan also sees CU’s three-point margin of victory — by far the lowest among No. 8 seeds — as a potential red flag.

Of course Pitt has been playing its share of tight games in the last month? Six weeks? Seems like forever at this point. I think it prudent to suggest keeping a drink or heart medicine nearby. This could be a rough one.

As for the turnovers, one of the areas Pitt will look to create them will be inside. Colorado has had their inside guys struggle when doubled.

A key for the Colorado men’s basketball team against defensive-minded Pittsburgh in an NCAA Tournament game Thursday in Orlando, Fla., will be whether 6-foot-10 sophomore Josh Scott can fight through double-teams, Buffaloes coach Tad Boyle said Monday.

“Pittsburgh is a very physical team, a very good defensive team,” Boyle said. “We’re going to work with Josh (on double-teams). In the game of basketball, if there are two guys on you, then somebody’s open.

“We have to find that open guy. We have to get the ball moving. We have to get Pittsburgh’s guys in rotations. The fact that they double the post at times can be a good thing for us if we handle it the right way.”
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Scott couldn’t get much going during the conference tournament, however. He shot only 29 percent (9-of-31) from the field for the three games in Las Vegas and averaged just 9.3 points. Against both Arizona and California, Scott attempted fewer than 10 shots.

One of the problems, Boyle said, was Scott often got the ball too far from the basket. That allowed opponents to clog up the paint and clamp a double-team on him.

“We have to catch it deeper in the block,” Boyle said. “That helps your floor spacing. We need to give Josh some room to operate. When he doesn’t catch it on the block, that makes it tough.

“Josh struggled with double-teams last year and he really struggled with it in the Pac-12 Tournament. He doesn’t like to be double-teamed, but he’s going to have to get used to it. That’s the ultimate sign of respect for a big guy, when they put two guys on you. We have to make them pay.”

Remember when the Big East did that 10 or 12 man 1st team all-Big East squad? The Pac-12 is still doing that and Scott made that list. So, he is good, but he can be taken out of his game. Pitt has shown in recent weeks — and especially in the ACC Tournament — that they can be very effective in double-teaming in the post.