Not good so far this evening for the Big East with Notre Dame and Marquette falling.

Hopefully that was just a Pac-10 aberration.

9:27: Okay, just ugly shooting so far. Neither team looks particularly comfortable. There’s a good amount of bumping and physical activity. Pitt down 4-2 but Sam Young shooting foul shots after the break.

9:39: Pitt down 13-12, 10:20 until halftime.

Pitt 6-6 on free throws. Shooting struggles continue. Pitt forced a short flurry of turnovers and that resulted in Michigan State starting to hold onto the ball a bit more rather than trying to move the ball more. Right now the Spartans are hitting shots and Pitt is not.

9:47: Right now, the question is whether Pitt can shoot above 25% from the field before halftime. On the stunning side, Pitt is 8-8 on FTs.

9:55: Crap, but Neitzel is shooting well tonight. I guess on the positive side, MSU has been hot while Pitt is cold this half. Yet it is still quite close.

10:08: Fields did nearly everything in that half. That steal was tremendous, and he finished this time. Of course, the rest of the team stood there and watched as Kailan Lucas took it all the way and right to the hoop.

Pitt down 30-28. All told, Pitt should be happy to be down only 2. 9-29 shooting and being outrebounded. MSU shooting fantastic. 12-25 shooting, 4-5 on 3s.

Pitt has stayed close because of getting turnovers and shooting 8-8 from the line.

The team has to shoot better in the second half.

10:35: How can Pitt still be missing these shots? More activity on defense, but no conversions on offense.

11:32: Sorry, Pitt finally went on a run when I backed off any posts, so I went with it.  That didn’t last. Kiddie stuff then interfered with any more posting.
So the season comes to an end. Looked like the legs were finally giving out on the players. So many shots that just seemed to hit the front of the rim.

Michigan State made the tough shots. Have to give the Spartans credit. Neitzel had the hot shooting game, they needed. Kalin Lucas was able to attack off the dribble and was simply faster.
Pitt missed the open looks. Unbelievable number of open looks — especially from the perimeter — that Pitt left short.  Pitt shot 2-17 on 3s, which was somewhat offset by shockingly good FT shooting — 18-19.

DeJuan Blair struggled with too much size inside from Michigan State, and being the only Pitt player inside all too often. When Levance Fields is the second leading rebounder, that never bodes well.
Hate to see Ronald Ramon and Keith Benjamin go out like this. Neither of them able to do much on offense.

Okay, gametime nearing. Let’s see if Pitt can help put the seeding issue into further chaos.

9:00: No shock that the studio crew went Georgetown across the board. History, rankings, seeding, fresher legs, etc. all favor Georgetown.

9:05: Oh, we have the full intros tonight. Did the players get to choose their own music?

9:10: Burr, Cahill and Donato the refs.

9:12: Okay, not exactly the same start as last night. 2 turnovers, a foul by Blair, and a missed shot. Pitt down 6-0 with 18:02 to go in the half. Dixon calls a necessary timeout. Have to settle the team.

9:17: Better. Ball movement on offense. Staying tight on defense. Biggs all over Hibbert (yeah, I’m shocked to be writing that too). 6-5 G-town with 15:44.

9:21: If Pitt can’t knock down any 3s (only 1 so far) they won’t have any room to work inside. G-town is really clogging the lanes.

Can’t believe Fields missed both FTs and Wallace hit that ridiculous 3. Those are the sort of things that can demoralize the team early. Make them think that it won’t be their night.

9:26: Pitt has the lead as Brown comes up with big scores off the bench. Even when things work for G-town, the pace will keep this game close — at least in the first half. Pitt has to remain patient.

Biggs playing solid. Guess he is really up for playing for friends and family.

9:32: In the first meeting this year, the Hoyas only made 3 3s all game. They have 4 already.

9:35: Pitt down 22-21 with 7:01 left.

Have to hope that the Hoyas cool on the 3-point shooting in the second half. That is where they are living right now. Pitt has hit enough 3s now to stay with them and open things inside. They are swarming over Blair inside, though. Good ball movement by Pitt. Defense isn’t bad, G-town is setting some great screens for the 3s and they are knocking them down from a longer range.

9:42: Pitt is incredibly active on the glass. Really attacking the glass. After letting Marquette dominate last night, I guess they redoubled the effort.

Hibbert has 2 fouls.

Pitt up 29-26 with 3:32.

9:53: Pitt’s defense really, really tightened up further into the half. They completely disrupted their final possession.

Pitt leads 31-28 at the half.

Jamie Dixon flashes a little sense of humor to Doris Burke at the halftime interview. The crowd noise drowned her out and he told her so, gave stock coach talk, and then added that he was sure her observations were spot on. At least he isn’t tight for this game.

Pitt definitely came out a little tight, while G-town was loose. By the end of the half, it seemed that the roles switched. Pitt looked looser and faster. The Hoyas seemed a little more frustrated that Pitt wasn’t rolling over for them.

Ewing, Jr. is just a good ball-player. Such a break for the Hoyas that he quit at Indiana and came to them. He’s not a starter, because he isn’t good at helping to set the pace and flow. Once the game is going, though, he jumps right in there and keeps things moving.

In an ideal world, this week is when things finally go off for Biggs mentally. An understanding of all that he has to do in the little things. I don’t know. It finally happened for Benjamin in his senior year. Maybe Biggs is starting to get the message.

Ramon has been so consistently good for Pitt in the BET. He is showing some real fire in his final games as a Panther.

10:13: The floor mic just caught Jesse Sapp saying “Get that s**t out of here” as he fouled Young.

Young then missed both FTs. That’s just killing every Pitt fan with the misses from the charity stripe.

10:19: Pitt still leading 39-35. Blair heading to the line after the commercial break. I’m not optimistic they will increase their lead.

I’m loving what I’m seeing from Ronald Ramon. This is the end of his career and he is just going to leave it all out there. Injuries, fatigue and being undersized be damned.

10:29: DaJuan Summers has his 4th foul with over 12 minutes left. Huge. They are talking about his defense on Young. But he is also the guy that can attack from a wing on offense. Again, Ewing, Jr. tried to take the “credit” for the foul in place of Summers. Just smart.

10:32: How was that a travel on Brown when Hibbert grabbed him on the perimeter?

10:41: It is weird. The Hoya fouls are looking more and more like frustration fouls. Please make some.

Wow. Hibbert picks up 2 quick fouls in a few seconds. Now the Hoyas have Summers, Rivers and Hibbert with 4 fouls.

10:44: Outrebounding, outhustling and taking care of the ball along with the defense. That’s how Pitt is overcoming one of the worst displays of foul shooting ever. Bob Huggins and John Calipari are bothered by this level.

Only theory I have is that the tired legs kick in when they have a chance to stop and try and take their time to shoot. Adrenalin and the game flow are keeping them going in the game itself. I mean, Fields going 1-6?

10:47: DaJuan Summers fouled out with 7:25 left. Pitt up 53-42, Hibbert has to come back in.

10:55: Blair commits a dumb foul after Hibbert already beat him. That’s his 4th. Still 4:45 to go. 56-49.

10:56:Ramon Nails the open 3 on a broken play. Huge. Back up to 10 points.

11:02: Time to prove Pitt can make them when it counts. It’s going to be a procession to the FT line now.

11:04: Rivers fouls out grabbing Ramon on an inbound.

11:15: Another huge block for Young late!!!!

Ramon knocks down 4 straight FTs.

Young will be the Tourney MVP — deservedly so — but damn if Ramon isn’t a close second for the way he has stepped up in this BET.

11:20: YYYEEESSSSSSSSS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

11:21: There’s a lot of dust in my house as I watch Pitt celebrate.

Geez, Georgetown suddenly looks scary good. I want Pitt to win — badly — but it also feels like Pitt gets to play with house money at this point. Still, can’t have the newbies from C-USA feel that comfortable yet.

9:25: Just as Pitt gets off to a solid start and 5-0 lead, Blair commits a dumb foul way out on the perimeter. Marquette immediately scored after that.

9:30: Pitt up 14-4 with 15:44 to the half. Hot shooting start. Levance Fields feeling it early going to the basket. Shots that hadn’t fallen since his return are dropping right now. Sam Young is really, really active on the D. Marquette sloppy with the ball helps, too.

9:38: Marquette briefly stopped turning the ball over and closed. Then they got sloppy again and Pitt converts. Now 24-15 with the “and 1″ for Brown coming after the commercial. Jerel McNeal has been carrying the Golden Eagles. That ran out for WVU with Alexander today. I’m just sayin’.

9:44: Damn. Blair with his second at about the 10 minute mark. Let’s see if Biggs can give Pitt some more minutes.

Marquette with now within 6.

9:55: Wow. McNeal with 2 fouls and over 6 minutes until halftime. Pitt is still attacking offensively and it is beautiful. Defense is tight to this point. Shots that Marquette is making are not exactly a lay-up line.

9:57: Things not heard very often. Size mismatch in favor of Benjamin.

9:58: With 4:17 left, McNeal commits 3d foul (2nd offensive) as Benjamin draws it. Huge.

10:02: Things all going Pitt’s way right now. It’s Marquette with foul issues — despite better depth. Pitt is just attacking, attacking, attacking.

35-21 with under 4, Benjamin heading to the line. Marquette is even bringing back in Hayward with his two fouls because he provides marginally better inside defense.

10:10: Well, unfortunately Pitt failed to score in the final minutes. Of course Marquette only had 2 points over 9:28.

The Golden Eagles are 0-16 on shooting right now. Eerily like a role-reversal from the first meeting. Pitt should be up more, but then in the first game, so should have Marquette at the end of the 1st half.

Not thrilled with the way Pitt rushed shots in the final few minutes, but I’ll let it slide.

Biggs has been solid in his minutes. This will be somewhat backhanded, but Marquette is precisely the kind of team that Biggs should be able to do well on both ends.

35-22 Pitt at the half.

10:27: Matthews commits 2 fouls in a few seconds. Ramon shooting 3 FTs. Goes 1-3. Huh?

10:30: Blair with his 3d foul just a minute and a half into the second half. Damn.

10:32: Ramon and Young are just getting after things for Pitt. Yippee (I know, trenchant observations here).

10:39: McNeal with foul #4 with 15:43 left in the game. Pitt up “only” 11.

10:46: Just as Marquette gets to 10, Pitt answers. Ramon for a corner 3, then Young steal and lay-in.

13:19 left, Pitt up 49-34.

10:51: Crean’s whining/bitching/complaining in a media TO, gets him a technical. Ramon only 1-2. What is up with his FT shooting tonight?

Biggs now shooting his FTs — and makes them both. 52-39, 11:50 left.

10:57: The Marquette 3s have been falling more. Now Blair gets his 4th foul with 9:01 left. Pitt’s lead down to 8.

11:01: Okay, I don’t know what has happened in this game to Pitt’s FT shooting. Between that and Marquette really getting a ton of second chances (even though they have missed a lot of them) that is really starting to offset good early shooting and Pitt forcing turnovers.

And Biggs off the feed from Young gives Pitt a needed basket with the “and 1″ (not counting on it) after the commercial break. Pitt still up by 8, with under 8 to go.

11:06: If Young won’t even warn Ramon, they are going to keep running that screen to free James.

11:30: Marquette and their fans can take, um, solace in the moral victory. That their team didn’t quit. That they rallied and fought and clawed back into the game. All good things.

I’ll take the real thing. Plus the fact that even as Marquette made a comeback, Pitt never lost it. They did what was needed. They regained their composure.

Pitt doesn’t surrender the lead or the game. 68-61 for the win. Points scored in the first half, still counted in the second half.

I’m around. Sort of.

7:03: Len Elmore calls out Pitt’s defense before the opening tip. No arguments from the peanut gallery.

7:05: By the way, Jim Burr was officiating the Syracuse-’Nova game, so there is no worry there.

7:11: Making 3s, but taking too many early. Pitt up 8-4, 17:10 to play. Ramon and Benjamin already have a foul each.

7:15: Crap. Benjamin picks up his second foul early. Blair took too long to decide. It was like he waited for the double-team and then decided to go to the basket. He turned right into the double-team in part because he put himself too far under the basket if he turned the other way.

7:23: I’m really concerned about the struggles to get the ball inside. Blair seems a bit sluggish tonight. Brown isn’t getting much of a chance to attack — or even see the ball.

7:29: Damnit! That was basket interference by Williamson. How was that not in the cylinder when he threw it down?

Blair just missed 2 more FTs. Pitt up only 16-14 with under 9 to go until halftime.

7:33: Wow. Over 7 minutes without a field goal for Pitt. Ugly drought.

7:41: Okay. Benjamin back in with his 2 fouls gives Pitt 4 points and then Biggs with a put back when Cinci completely forgot him. Pitt up 22-16 4:41 to halftime.

7:55: Pitt has a 31-25 lead at the half.

Sam Young came to play, to go a bit cliche. Not just on offense. He’s actually flashing defensive effort tonight.

Cinci is struggling. They get Pitt to go nearly 9 minutes without a FG and the best they could do was briefly tie the game. It’s up to Pitt to attack. They seem a bit passive. Blair, looks nervous. I think the BET actually has him a little more tentative than he (or anyone else expected).

8:22: Sorry, kid duties kept me away for a little.

Benjamin stepping up tonight. Much needed.

8:46: And a little more.

Give Cinci — and especially Deonta Vaughn — credit. He’s hitting deep, stepback 3s. That is unbelievable. Pitt looked like they had them down. After the UConn debacle they should have rolled over. They didn’t. Pitt has to put them down, the Bearcats won’t do it for them.

8:52: Thank goodness Ramon is hot in the second half, as well. He’s helping to keep the Vaughns at bay.

9:00: Vaughn has their last 17 points. Anyone else thinking evil thoughts of “Sweep the knee!”? Just me? Oh.

Sam Young with 2 blocks. Wow.

9:03: 1:08 left, Ramon misses 2 FTs? Ugh. Up to that point Pitt had been better than solid at the line.

Vaughn has the last 20 for Cinci. Just a tremendous individual effort to carry his team. Frustrating, because Pitt would be blowing them out otherwise, but it is worthy of respect.

9:15: Phew. Pitt wins 70-64 over the Deonta Vaughns of Cinci.

Sam Young was great for Pitt. 4 blocks including 2 vital ones in the final minute+.

Pitt won despite a horrid game from Blair.

Keith Benjamin stepped up for Pitt. Ramon had a solid game. Fields still lacks his shot, but his passing is getting a lot crisper.

Sorry for the late start. Was outside doing more digging out of all the snow. My back is killing me, barely got back inside. Haven’t even had a chance to grab a beer yet.

Ugly start so far. Lots of misses. At least the defensive effort appears there early.

12:18: DePaul is supposed to have a lot of talent. A big recruiting class. Lots of people think highly of Jerry Wainwright. He was on the coaching staff for USA Basketball (U-21, I think). Aside from being very personable and glib, I have yet to see a DePaul game where I thought the coaching was the difference — in a good way. Especially on defense.

Pitt has really started hitting the shots thanks to the poor DePaul defense. The thing that worries me is that the Pitt players will use it as an excuse not to play defense. Lord knows they need to.

11:09 left in the half, Pitt leading 20-11.

12:28: And there’s the lack of defense inside. DePaul has closed to within 5 with 8:30 left.

12:30: Geez. Wanamaker with a nice steal on help defense, then tries to go 1-3 and turns it right back over. The hoop goes the other way +1. Again, no defense inside to allow right to the basket.

DePaul can take the lead with the free throw after the commercial break.

12:35: That TV timeout gave Pitt a chance to regroup. Moving the ball on offense again and now a 8-0 run to take a 35-27 lead with 5:03 left in the half.

A little more patient on defense in this spurt.

12:40: DePaul already has 3 players with 2 fouls — Clarke, Koshwal, Poscic — mainly inside guys.

12:47: Yes, Pitt leads 45-39.

I’m not that happy, though. Not doing a good job on defense. Way too many easy drives straight to the basket. No one there to contest them. DePaul is not a good team, and they are being allowed to get to the rim.

Sloppy with the ball. Crap load of turnovers — 7 or 8 so far.

Sure the offense has looked pretty good, but this is against DePaul and their weak defense. Fine that Pitt is shooting and scoring. The defense is what they need to be playing.

1:10: Pitt up 56-45 with 16:26 left. Ramon has drained a couple 3s. Still giving up baskets in the paint. There seems little urge from Young or Blair to challenge shots. More afraid of drawing fouls and not getting to score later. Rebounding is solid, at least.

1:20: DePaul is so bad defensively. Leaving Pitt’s perimeter wide open. Benjamin with another 3 and a +1.

Now Pitt getting a quick little spurt.

Pitt up 68-56, with under 13 minutes.

1:33: The good news for Pitt’s offense. 5 players already in double figures — Benjamin, Fields, Blair, Young and Brown. Ramon has 9 points. At least on offense, the wealth is being spread.

Still struggling with the whole defense. Pitt leads 77-68 with 8:04 left.

1:39: Ramon with a basket puts him in double digits as well.

6:34 left Pitt up 84-70.

1:50: Not much to say since Pitt is taking care of DePaul with a 91-76 lead with under 4 to go.

The offense had their way with DePaul, as expected. As I’ve said over and over today, the defense is the issue and that still doesn’t look good.

1:53: In comes senior walk-on Maurice Polen. Go, ‘Mo!

1:59: Pitt cruises 98-79 final.
Also really good news, the women’s team just upset Notre Dame  in the Women’s BE Tournament quarterfinals!

Every body ready? There may be some gaps as I try to duck parental responsibilities to yell obscenities at the TV.

7:05: sloppy. You expect that to some extent from WVU on senior night early. But Pitt?

7:08: I know Smalligan is a senior in his last game, but they do have to call his fouls.

7:12: 13-9 highlights then Ramon burying the 3. Good times.

7:19: Nichols heading to the bench with 2 fouls. I’m shocked. This looks like a game where the officials will be whistling in favor of the home team.

7:25: Gilbert Brown playing with a lot more confidence and aggressiveness.

7:29: The Mountaineers are really going at Pitt’s guards inside. Getting the calls.

7:39: I can see Dixon getting a tech in this game with the way it is being called.

7:44: Unbelievable. I spend all season keeping cool about the refs. Trying to give them the benefit of the doubt — as long as there is some consistency and it isn’t too blatant in the homecourt sway. This one, though is killing me. Every aggressive move to the basket gets a foul called on the defense. Then it changes. Fields called for an offensive foul driving to the hoop.

29-25 WVU with 3:41 to halftime.

8:01: It’s halftime. Pitt trails 40-30.

Good news, Pitt has only attempted 4 3s. Bad news, they still haven’t made one.

Major foul issues in the first half. Blair, Ramon and Young with 2 fouls. Brown has 3. Astoundingly it is 12-11 in foul calls. Of course WVU has its foul calls a bit more diffused. I still haven’t figured out how the refs are calling this game.

Pitt’s bigger problem has been turning the ball over. 10 turnovers in the first half. Fewer opportunities for Pitt.

Despite being down 10, Pitt can take the second half. Blair has to stay out of foul trouble, though, and a couple 3s have to be knocked down. Not to mention make those easy buckets inside — go up stronger.

8:15: That isn’t exactly the start to the second half Pitt needed. Missing shots, Blair with a dumb offensive foul on a pick (late whistle, but it was a foul), too aggressive on defense leaving the WVU players with easy looks after a simple fake.

Now down 45-30.

8:20: The Pitt players are visibly frustrated. Dixon is going to have to use up all the timeouts in the first 5 minutes.

8:31: I don’t think I’ve ever seen spurtability in foul calling. They call several on Pitt. Then a few on  WVU.

Joe Alexander is killing it tonight for WVU.

Lots to get done in the morning to get to back in time.

This will be a rough one for Pitt.

12:06: Steal, but Sam Young puts up a mid-range jumper? Syracuse returns with Flynn on a 3.

12:10: Syracuse has a big advantage beyond simply being at home. Nearly a full week off. The only team in the Big East that has starters playing more minutes than Pitt. Ramon hitting an early 3 promising. Donte Green and Jonny Flynn doing the same — not so much.

Is it just me, or does it take Sam Young about 5-10 minutes to get his head fully in a game?

12:19: Sam Young being surrounded by ‘Cuse on the offensive end. If Pitt can’t penetrate or make 3s, that won’t change.

12:21: With the perimeter size with Harris and Green, Gilbert Brown should see a lot of minutes today for defense.

12:25: Crap. Blair has 2 fouls with over 10 minutes in the half.

12:30: McGhee in the game, but he was completely ignored in an offensive sequence down low. Orange playing off of him, but still they didn’t pass to him. Probably a bit of fear that he takes too long to gather for a shot.

12:37: Onuaku has been the most improved ‘Cuse player from the start of the season to this point. He’s developed quickly and very well. Just abusing Biggs and McGhee. At least Onuaku doesn’t hit FTs. He’s now out with a couple fouls with 4 minutes to halftime.

Pitt now leads 29-28 with 4:11. Brown doing a lot on defense. The refs are allowing a lot on the perimeter which helps. Brown had 3 fouls in only 10 minutes versus Cinci.

12:47: Flynn is abusing Ramon. Going in and getting brutal screens to get wide open 3s.

Young is getting aggressive on the offensive boards.

12:50: Not sure how there was no foul on Ramon or Young, but no complaints here.

Pitt trails 37-35.

Missed a big opportunity to at least tie the game. Not horrible to be down only 2 with Blair out for 10 minutes with foul troubles. He’ll at least be reseted for the second half.

Considering how hot the Orange were on 3s (5-8) I do like them to cool down in the second half on that front. Yes, the ‘Cuse are shooting well, but Pitt is getting lots of turnovers for a 3d straight game — that limits shot attempts — and makes it a bit of a trade off for Pitt.

Seeing better attacking of the zone as the game went on. Really hope Pitt can somehow shoot better on 3s. Yes, I know that would be novel these days, but…

1:03: Pitt has 11 more shot attempts than Syracuse in the first half. +6 on offensive rebounds and +5 on turnovers will do that.

Almost seems strange how Pitt’s defense has changed so much. From a team that didn’t gamble on turnovers and just made teams take tough shots to more gambling on turnovers and letting teams get out for easier scores when missing. Is it worth considering that Pitt has adjusted the defensive style to the players at this point. Trying to keep Blair out of foul trouble by being forced to defend as much inside? Young and Brown with their athleticism?

I don’t know, but the turnovers Pitt has generated have been directly related to the poor fieldgoal defense.

1:22: Suddenly Pitt is hitting some of those 3s. Syracuse actually cooling down on 3s, but they are now getting buckets inside. Pitt with a 57-56 lead with 10:44 left.

1:35: What the hell? Suddenly Pitt can’t pass the ball on the perimeter? Down 6 with under 7 minutes and a slew of throw aways that boggle the mind.

1:40: No coincidence that the Orange are even hotter offensively with Brown out in the last few minutes. That limping hopefully was worked out. Down 70-62 with under 6 minutes.

1:50: Whoah. Fields with a couple FTs. A block, Brown finally drills a 3 and then Ramon steals and lay-in on the inbound and it is now 75-71 Syracuse with 2:33.

1:59: Ugh. Brown got himself trapped and just tried to get a foul. Nothing there.

2:01: Oh, my god!!!!!!!!!

2:03: Pitt WINS???

I love Pitt, and they never gave up but…

This was a Syracuse Choke job. Snatching defeat from the jaws of victory. It went Pitt’s way — and we all think Pitt was due for something go their way. Unbelievable.

82-77 Pitt

FINAL THOUGHTS: I’m sure most of you noted the article that it isn’t just Ramon with a “partially torn labrum muscle,” but Gilbert Brown also has one of those. Considering how Brown ended up redshirting last year due to injuries and mono — I am already scared that Brown might be as snake bit as Ramon has been with nagging injuries that keep him from ever getting to where his talent tantalizes.

Today, though, was Brown showing so much of the potential on defense and some great efficiency on offense. He was the guy on the perimeter to shut down who ever he was on and prevent penetration.  He finally hit some 3s. Not waiting and lining them up, but just popping to a stop and firing (”Don’t think meat, just shoot”??).

Levance Fields was abysmal shooting for 37 minutes and then just made the big plays.

Keith Benjamin found his shot today.

I think Ramon takes a lot of grief defensively at times. He isn’t a great defender, but he has been playing against the best offensive guards in the Big East for the past 2 weeks.  Jonny Flynn also had a week to rest for the first time in a month. It showed as he finally found his legs.
A bit surprised that Wanamaker saw 0 minutes today. Especially when Brown had to come out with whatever was bothering his hip and Fields had 4 fouls. Given the way Pitt was turning the ball over in that stretch, it’s not like he would have made things worse. Defensively, at a minimum he would have been some extra fouls to give.
Syracuse did a tremendous job of taking away Blair. Only 8 points and 6 rebounds in 26 minutes. He was someone they continually surrounded — sagging in on their zone so there were always 3 white shirts around him. Blair, however did have 4 assists as he mostly passed out of the bad situations.

I’m very torn on Sam Young these days. I sometimes feel like I am being hypercritical of him. He is Pitt’s best offensive players and I think Pitt fans (including me) can be extra hard on the primary offensive weapon if he isn’t perfect — see, also: Gray, Aaron. He had 19 points, 3 steals and 5 rebounds. At the same time he was so weak on defense — especially  early — that it was really frustrating. Add in, the fact that he often shows little interest in even pretending to pass out of a situation when he has no good shot and at the minimum, a little voice whispers “selfish”  and upsets.

For the first time since the latest incarnation of the Big East I have not had bragging rights in my own house. Pitt needs to win this so I can put the wife back in her place.

7:30: Refs for tonight John Cahill, Michael Stephens and Brian O’Connell.

7:38: Pitt gets first lead on Blair going 2-2 on FTs. 4-3, 18:20 in the game. Then Pitt gets out hustled on offensive rebound to give it right back.

7:41: Some good news. Gentry already has 2 fouls. Otherwise, Deonta Vaughn is off to a hot start for Cinci. Sam Young probably has half the fans ticked off already with a bad decision to force a shot — not even looking to pass out of it — and then matador defense on the other end.

7:45: Everyone’s afraid to shoot the 3. Ramon, Fields and Brown all hesitated and thought against it in one possession. That won’t help if there’s no confidence.

7:51: Cinci shooting better than 50%, but also has 4 turnovers in the first 8 minutes. Mainly because Vaughn got off to a hot start.

7:56: When the double team comes on Blair, the guards have to come to him so he can pass out of it. It does no good for Pitt, if Blair has no one to pass it to.

7:59: Nice. Wanamaker to Blair for a jam. 18-13 Pitt with 9:05 in the half and Cronin needs a time out.

8:01: Sam Young picks up his second foul and out he goes for Biggs with 8+ minutes left.

8:05: Weird. They said that the refs took back the Young foul and put it on Brown. Um, OK. Damn. Biggs made a 3 earlier, now he’s trying to take more. On the bright side, he did have a nice block and has grabbed a couple boards in traffic.

8:10: Out fought inside with Blair getting a blow. Cinci gets a couple shots before it finally falls with the “and 1.” Pitt up 23-21 with a foul shot pending.

8:22: Halftime tied at 29. Pitt still being out-rebounded — 19-13. That’s got me a bit ticked. Vaughn and Williamson have 10 points apiece. Young and Blair have 17.

The good. Pitt has 8 assists on 11 baskets. They have forced 8 turnovers by the Bearcats.

The bad. Out rebounded and hustled. Still not hitting 3s. Guards are not producing. Expect the Bearcats to collapse inside and specifically on Blair and Young even more in the second half.

Cinci with Williamson and Vaughn being the scorers keeps Pitt spread. No packing or helping for risk of losing either.

8:55: Sorry. Trying to put the kids to bed at halftime, and oddly enough the kids didn’t cooperate.

How I avoided committing a Shaken Baby incident with the 10-month old in the first 6 minutes of the second half is a minor miracle.

8:57: Statistically speaking, Gilbert Brown has to make a 3 eventually. Doesn’t he?

9:00: Ramon makes his 2nd 3, and that one was from his favorite spot. Left of center on the perimeter. Pitt has a 50-46 lead with 9:12 left.

9:05: &^O(^$###$#$$%#@ Vaughn! Even with a hand in his face drills that 3.

9:08: Scary, ridiculous stat at this point. Pitt has taken 44 shots. 22 are 3s with 7:32 left. That just should not be.

9:13: NBA continuation for Sam Young on that one. 61-55 with 5:30 left.

9:22: Blair struggling with FTs down the stretch after a 4-4 start. 2-4 on his last four — in the past minute.

9:27: Fields with a 3. Stunning considering how much time was on the shot clock. 68-63 Pitt with 52 seconds.

9:32: How do they miss that travel in the final seconds right in the middle of the lane? Still, Pitt can’t quit on the play just because. Hopefully Pitt gets a make-up before this is over.

9:33: Free throw time for Pitt, from here on out. Brown 1-2.

9:35: Brown with the slam off the rebound and break. The wife just asked me how many fingers she was holding up.

73-67 win for Pitt.

Thoughts: Strange game defensively for Pitt.  The poor rebounding is scaring the crap out of me. This is, however the second straight game where Pitt has forced a ton of turnovers which offsets to some extent allowing so many offensive rebounds. I think Cinci’s 48%  shooting is a little deceptive since it came on only 54 attempts. The possessions by Cinci were limited, but they had so many offensive rebounds.

Deonta Vaughn was tremendous from outside. John Williamson having his way inside was much more worrisome to me.

Again, I’ll repeat, the rebounding has officially become an issue. Pitt only had 25 rebounds and Blair had 10 of them. Benjamin and Brown each had 4 and Sam Young had 0 (though he did have 5 steals).

Too many 3s being taken — especially with the lack of results. 53 shot attempts 26 from outside. Brown has stopped trying to penetrate. Fields is shying from contact. Benjamin started to get some confidence back. All need to go inside to be effective.

Needed win.

6:50 pm: About 10 minutes from tip off. Settle in here for tonight’s game, which we’re hoping goes a bit better than last Friday.

7:09 pm: ESPN’s “Greatest Highlight” is stupid and annoying, much like “Who’s Now?” was. Early in the game we have Sam Young burying a three (he takes too many deep shots) as well as DeJuan Blair challenging and scoring on Harangody then blocking a layup at the opposite end.

Watch out for Torre Jackson. He grabs boards and just blocked Blair — and stands only 5′ 11″.

ND wants to run and play up-tempo and Pitt is going to play a long, drawn out halfcourt game to stop that high pace. They average 80.3 points per game — Pitt usually doesn’t win games that reach high scores like that.

7:15 pm: Levance Fields is on the court but he saw limited time in practice this week so his minutes will be few. He still a little slow and not et comfortable to go with the Bronx style crossover we know him for. It’s the move that gets him by defenders all the time and opened up that shot for him against Duke. Hopefully he gets it back sooner rather than later but it won’t come without practice and getting back in basketball shape.

Ramon hasn’t shot too well yet, and the entire team has thrown up plenty of bricks.

7:18 pm: Can someone please please please make a basket?!? Sure it’s nice to grab 3 offensive rebounds on one possession but it’s better to put the damn ball in the hoop.

7:23 pm: DeJuan Blair hits a jumper and keeps the team’s FG% from dipping below 20%.

Ramon is ice cold and rightfully on the bench. In past games, even when he struggled, he had to stay in because there was no one to replace him. Nice to have fresh bodies (though Fields isn’t really too fresh).

The defense is shaky at best. No one is hustling and really being physical like Pitt basketball teams are known for.

7:31 pm: Absolutely beautiful fundamental play by Gil Brown — he misses the three (and might have been fouled) but as soon as he lets go of the ball he sprints toward the hoop for the rebound and the put-back basket. Only the shooter knows where a ball is probably going to bounce after a miss and he read and reacted very well to his missed shot.

Note to Paul Rhoads: read and react is good in basketball, not so much in football.

7:34 pm: Blair isn’t in the game, so a reminder: don’t throw your remote through your TV while watching Harangody demolish Gary McGhee.

7:39 pm: Fields is seeing a lot more PT than I thought he would after missing time in practice. Gil Brown with another nice job finding a hole and hitting the jump/float shot.

Pitt gets a break as Blair gets stuffed and a bad foul call is made. They’re letting the teams play more than most refs will allow — I’d rather watch a physical game rather than one where fouls are called every possession.

7:53 pm: Where Pitt grabs plenty of o-rebounds, ND grabs a nice amount too but actually capitalizes on them with by making baskets and free throws. It’s really a novel concept.

At the half, Keith Benjamin leads our scorers with 10. Fields looks like he’s slowly getting more comfortable while Ramon has thrown up bricks. Sam Young finds a way to frustrate me once again, this time by not making an extra pass and instead throwing up a poor shot. Selfishness? I don’t think I’d go there yet, but it’s certainly not helping the team as a whole. I’m impressed by Gilbert Brown so far tonight; slowly, that experiecne he’s gained is paying off.

Luke Harangody is (expectedly) winning the battle against DeJuan Blair, although some of his 12 points came while abusing Gary McGhee. At this point, Blair has zero (!) personal fouls against him, so don’t complain that he can’t be aggressive because he’s playing with fouls. He better be attacking the hell out of Harangody in the second half. No more dumb excuses.

All told, I’m happy to lead by 5 at the half.

Pitt 35 Notre Dame 30 — Halftime

8:02 pm: So Blair gets the ball, takes it to Harangody, makes the basketball and gets fouled. For more of my crystal ball reading, see above paragraph.

8:05 pm: Three minutes into the second half and Blair has manages to double his point total and get Harangody to the bench. Well done, DeJuan.

8:10 pm: Aw freakin’ crap. The ghost of Chris Quinn, known Pitt killer by draining threes against us all the time, has come back to haunt us. This time under the guise of Rob Kurz and Kyle McAlarney. A nice lead disappeared relatively quickly. Somewhere, Chas is probably tossing back some exotic beer. Me? Red and blue Jolly Ranchers are my pain killer of choice.

8:21 pm: The shooting has definitely picked up here in the second half. We’re still getting plenty of offensive rebounds but this time Tyrell Biggs hit both foul shots. Benjamin, with the “Ronald Ramon Sweet Three Point Stroke From 2 Years Ago” is hitting his open shots, while Ramon, ironically, is not.

8:24 pm: That is the exact type of foul that kills Blair. After ND grabs a rebound and they’re moving the ball up the court to set up an offense, Blair inexplicably reaches in and gets called. Stupid, stupid, stupid.

8:30 pm: Tory Jackson, you annoy me. You’re shorter than I am and yet you have a double-double with 10 points and 11 rebounds. Ah…

8:32 pm: ND has finally figured out our weakness — defending back screens and back-door passes. Tory Jackson strikes again, lead only at three.

8:39 pm: Kyle McAlarney’s best impression of Chris Quinn, hitting a three from the logo + another McAlarney three + Harangody steal and huge dunk + Sam Young turnover = 100% of the momentum towards Notre Dame. The last 45 seconds might be the turning point for the worse.

8:45 pm: Sam Young COMPLETELY botched a wide open dunk. COMPLETELY blew it. That’s embarrassing, and I know for a fact this is not the first time he has missed wide open dunks.

And if we’re down 5 points on the road in a critical moment, Ronald Ramon is not the guy I want bringing the ball down the court.

8:48 pm: Hey Sam, bricking a three point shot from the corner is not going to help make up for getting rejected by the rim. We’re down 11 now…

8:54 pm: With just over a minute to go, Pitt is already starting to foul and extend the game. Too bad ND actually makes their free throws.

8:58 pm: So Pitt comes out so strong after the half only to collapse late in the game. Reviews and recaps sure to come.

Notre Dame 82 Pitt 70 — Final 

I’ve been shoveling snow all day, so tonight’s liveblog from the comfort of my very warm house will be nice to say the least. The biggest pre-game story for tonight’s game is that Levance Fields will not be returning tonight. It’s probably better that we don’t see him tonight anyways. I don’t think we’ll have too much of a problem with Providence and I’m scared he’ll maybe end up setting himself back (and risk further injury) by playing a regular season game. I’d rather have him completely and fully healthy for later this month and in March.

7:41 pm: Mike Jarvis is a much worse TV analyst than he was a head coach (364-201 overall record). We get the pleasure of hearing him all night. Plenty of empty seats at the Pete tonight; likely a mixture of horrible weather and a poor opponent. Providence hits two early treys but Pitt is going to be the more physically dominant team.

Jarvis says Fields wanted to return in time for Valentine’s day and asked, “I wonder who his sweetie is?” The answer is Pitt women’s hoops player Marcedes Walker.

And PC just hit another three pointer. That’s three 3’s in four minutes — please don’t tell me this is one of those times where a below average team shoots lights out against us.

7:46 pm: Sam Young is not a ball handler, as evidenced by his turnover. We’re not in good shape if he’s hurtling down the court with the ball on a fast break.

7:50 pm: Sam Young nearly not hitting the rim on an ugly three point shot: embarrassing. Geoff McDermott missing a dunk: much more embarrassing.

7:58 pm: Sloppy defense left a Providence shooter wide open to nail a three. If we’re going to let them have the open shots, it looks like they’ll be hitting them tonight. Defense needs to be tightened up a bit.

Ramon hits his second three of the night. Compared to the days after coughing up the ball at the end of the Villanova game, he has to have so much confidence right now after the shot to beat WVU.

8:05 pm: A nice alley-oop finished by Young finally gets the crowd into the game and then McDermott comes right back down an nails a three very long two.

8:07 pm: Pitt has 24 points in the paint compared to PC’s 12 and yet the Friars have managed to keep the game close. They’re hitting shots, plain and simple. It’s gotta stop at some point, right?

8:14 pm: The wisdom of Mike Jarvis: “Shooting 33% from the three point line is equivalent to shooting 50% from the two point line.” I wonder…where is this mysterious two point line?

Also, DeJuan Blair has had a very quiet 7 points so far. I don’t recall a game this year when I’ve almost completely forgot he was even on the floor.

8:23 pm: Pitt leads 42-37 at the half. Can’t say I was expecting this many points, and usually when games reach such high numbers, we’re probably not going to win. The Panthers “thing” for years now has been tough, low scoring games. I’m sure we’ll be fine in the second half though — Providence is going to start missing their deeper shots (hopefully) and don’t count out the halftime adjustments Jamie Dixon is known to make. He hasn’t disappointed us out of halftime yet.

The official count on the number of times we’ve seen the Russel Stover “Get your woman a box of chocolates for Valentine’s Day or she’ll divorce your sorry ass” commercial: six and counting.

8:34 pm: Already I see we came out looking much more pumped up and ready to go. Aggressiveness and physicality on defense are going to be huge. Didn’t see much in the 1st half but it’s picking up now.

8:43 pm: Providence is playing the 2-3 zone but Pitt has been passing well enough to beat it and get solid looks. Remember: passes beat zones, dribbling usually doesn’t.

8:49 pm: Tim Welsh calls a timeout after Pitt once again passes the Providence zone into confusion ending with a Ronald Ramon three pointer. He’s 4-6 from deep and just added an assist to his stat line with a nice pass to Benjamin. Pitt is up 20 now — PC is struuugggggling.

8:59 pm: With a 20 point lead, Pitt is just going to play safely and keep the cushion as it is. From the start of the second half until now, this is the Pitt team we wanted to see.

9:13 pm: Whoa, a minor computer crash. Since about 8 minutes to go, this game has been a snooze fest. Two minutes and we’re done.

9:34 pm: The beginning was a little closer than we’d have liked but the Panthers came out with a spark in the second half and put it away. Were we looking ahead to the big game at Marquette on Friday night? In the post game interview, Dixon hinted that maybe, just maybe, they were. I’ll admit I definitely was (as if it matters what a blogger is looking forward to). Kudos to Ronald Ramon for defending Jeff Xavier well. Xavier made three early treys but was kept pretty quiet for the remainder of the game.