ESPN Men's Basketball

MILWAUKEE -- If the story of the tournament thus far is the number of upsets on hand, the underlying story has been the way those upsets have disproportionately sunk Big East teams.

No. 11 Old Dominion outlasts No. 6 Notre Dame. No. 11 Washington tops No. 6 Marquette. No. 14 Ohio shocks No. 3 Georgetown. No. 15 Robert Morris takes No. 2 Villanova to overtime. Wednesday night, the Big East was the best conference in the country. Friday morning, that reputation was in tatters.

Big East die-hards can take some solace, then, that No. 3-seed Pittsburgh didn't catch the upset bug in their first-round matchup. Instead, the Panthers handily dispensed with an overmatched Oakland team, 89-66, at the Bradley Center Friday.

Predictably enough, the Panthers say they're not concerned about the rest of their conference -- even if they happened to notice the Big East's Thursday struggles.

"We watched the games," Pitt guard Jermaine Dixon said. "We are student-athletes. We like watching basketball. Yeah, the Big East lost some games, but that's not our main concern. We worry about what we have to do, and we worry about Oakland more than anything, taking it one game at a time. The Big East took some hits, but we're just going to go out there and do what we have to do."

Likewise, Pittsburgh coach Jamie Dixon said he didn't use the upsets from yesterday to put the fear of the underdog into his team.

"Not really," Dixon said. "We didn't look at that. Maybe they looked at it that way. I mean, to me if you go that route, you're not giving respect to Oakland. Our whole focus was how good they were, what they've done in their conference, and how they dominated the tournament in the three games they played.

"I know you can go that route and scare them, but my thing is to speak to the strengths and talents of Oakland and make sure our guys know how good they are," Dixon said.

Sure, the Big East may not be entirely redeemed by a blowout win over a No. 14 seed from the Summit League. But it wasn't just the win; it was the way the Panthers won. Fending off a scrappy team in the early minutes, Pittsburgh opened a commanding lead late in the first half. There was never a chance of a comeback; Dixon's team took all the air, all of that what-if energy, out of the Bradley Center. There would be no upset Friday, at least not when Pitt was on the floor.

Most impressive, perhaps, was his team's balance. Pittsburgh had six players score in double digits. The Panthers didn't create or maintain their large lead through explosive flurries or individual brilliance. Instead, Pittsburgh slowly, methodically, and completely ground the Golden Grizzlies down.

"I liked the balanced scoring," Jamie Dixon said. "Once we were able to get going, we could find some guys for open shots, and things started rolling."

Defensively, the Panthers chose not to double-team Oakland center Keith Benson, who played all 40 minutes and scored 28 points. The upshot was that Oakland's shooters didn't get open looks outside, and it paid off -- Pitt held Oakland to 4-of-21 shooting from three, and no matter what Benson did, it wasn't enough to keep up with Pitt's balance on the offensive end. Note to the rest of the NCAA tournament: This is how No. 3 seeds are supposed to win.

The next task -- facing No. 6 seed Xavier and its talented shooting guard, Jordan Crawford -- will be much more difficult. For now, though, Big East partisans can breathe easy. Pittsburgh's dominating performance made sure of that.

MILWAUKEE -- Some quick halftime thoughts from a game that looks unlikely to fall in line with the insanity of Thursday's upset bonanza:

• Pittsburgh has been able to get easy buckets in the paint almost at will. Oakland hung around for much of the first half thanks to some efficient offense of its own, but the Golden Grizzlies' stretchy 3-2 zone hasn't been much of a puzzle for the Panthers. Oakland will have to either find a way to keep Pitt out of the middle of that zone -- good luck -- or just hope to go on an offensive flurry of their own in the second half. Neither seems particularly likely.
• "Flurry" isn't the best way to describe Pittsburgh's offensive performance in the first half. There's no real individual brilliance on display. Instead, in typical Jamie Dixon-esque fashion, the Panthers have slugged and slogged their way to a really impressive first-half point total. Their lineup is balanced, they're getting easy looks, and they're converting. It's simple. It's impressive. It's working.
• Oakland's Ledrick Eackles completed one of the craziest and-1's you'll ever see ... until it was waved off as an offensive foul. Eackles drove into Pittsburgh guard Travon Woodall, bounced off, flicked the ball at least five feet above the rim and then watched from his prone position on the ground as it softly trickled through the hoop. Even as a charge, it was a beautiful thing to behold.
• Woodall has been a consistent presence, coming off the bench and scoring five points, not to mention running the Panthers' show from the point position. Leading scorer Ashton Gibbs spent much of the first half on the bench and didn't register a point.
• Not usually an offensive presence, Pitt center Gary McGhee scored eight points on 3-of-4 shooting, anchoring Pitt's balanced attack throughout the first. (Guards Jermaine Dixon and Brad Wanamaker likewise added eight points apiece.)
• It's usually easy to tell the little guys from the big boys -- the No. 14 seeds from the No. 3s -- merely from the uniforms each team wears. (Tiny schools' unis typically look far more like the jerseys you might see at your local high school gym. Sometimes worse.) Oakland's uniforms have plenty of that know-it-when-you-see-it mid-major quality, but that doesn't stop them from being some of the coolest threads in the entire tournament. The Golden Grizzlies sport an all-black uni with gold lettering and trim, which they back up with all black socks and all black shoes. It's a tough look. An added bonus: Oakland's players' names are placed conspicuously beneath the numbers on the back of their uniforms. As the old saying goes, variety is the spice of awesome jerseys. Or something like that.

PITTSBURGH -- No surprise here. Pitt versus Villanova was feisty, scrappy, at times flat-out ugly and entertaining to the last minute. The 70-65 win is a huge boon to the credibility and resume of a once-again soaring Pitt team that remains almost impossible to beat at home.

More to come in a column shortly but here are a few immediate reactions:

• What makes this Pitt team so dangerous is that it doesn't have a superstar. Every player plays hard and every player can hurt you -- Gilbert Brown off the bench, Gary McGhee underneath, Ashton Gibbs and Jermaine Dixon from the backcourt. They play like all Pitt teams -- hard and gritty -- and will be a very tough out come tourney time.
• Gary McGhee is one of most unsung players in the Big East. He plays yeoman's minutes in the post and does every little piece of work you need him to do. He had 10 critical rebounds against Villanova and hit 3 of 4 free throws.
• Count Scottie Reynolds out at your own risk. The Villanova guard was all but swarmed by Jermaine Dixon but finished with 20 points and nearly scared the bejesus out of the Pitt crowd when he hit back to back 3s late in the second half.
• Pitt now moves into a third-place tie with West Virginia and with a favorable four games to come -- at Notre Dame, at St. John's, home against Providence and Rutgers -- could easily sneak even higher into the final Big East standings. That's astounding for a team that lost so much and was picked ninth in the league.
• The road, meantime, doesn't get easier for Villanova. The Cats have a home date this week against South Florida, then travel for the showdown in Syracuse, to desperate Cincinnati before finishing up with West Virginia at home. It's a tough finish for a very good team and could go one of two ways for the Cats: toughen them up for March or exhaust them. Will be interesting to see which way it goes.

PITTSBURGH -- Greetings from the Petersen Events Center. Getting ready for what ought to be a tough -- and potentially foul infested -- game between two hard-nosed teams in Pittsburgh and Villanova.

At this time of year, every game has deeper meaning, but for the Panthers and Wildcats it's even more critical. Pitt is sitting in the much-coveted fourth position in the Big East, the last spot to claim a double-bye in the league tournament. With Louisville and Georgetown right behind them, the Panthers need a win to get a better hold on that bye. Villanova, of course, is fighting for the Big East regular-season crown with Syracuse -- with all eyes pointing toward the showdown next Saturday between the two squads. Of course there can't be a showdown if Villanova doesn't keep pace today.

A few other key things/players to watch:

• Jermaine Dixon. The last time he played Villanova he was in charge of stopping Scottie Reynolds on the last play of the game in the Elite Eight. That didn't go so well, and Dixon remembers it clearly. He said in today's Pittsburgh Post-Gazette that he circled this game on his calendar at the start of the year, looking at it as his chance to redeem himself and erase the painful memories of Reynolds' buzzer-beater.
• Can the Wildcats -- in particular Antonio Pena -- stay out of foul trouble? Because of its high-octane offense and scrappy guards, Villanova has been prone to a lot of fouls all season. The Cats average 33 whistles per game. Against a team as tenacious on the defensive end as Pitt, keeping out of foul trouble will be even more critical for Villanova, and in particular for Pena. The Wildcat big man has fouled out of five games and frequently finds himself saddled with early foul trouble. Nova doesn't have a lot of depth inside, and keeping Pena in the game is of vital importance.
• Whose style wins? In the end, this game is going to come down to a battle of wits. Villanova leads the Big East in scoring offense, averaging 85.4 points per game; Pittsburgh is second in the conference in scoring defense, giving up just 66.5. If forced into a slower pace and a half-court game, can the Wildcats adjust and win with defense and pluck? Conversely, can the Panthers survive if Villanova gets out in the open court?

The coaches' poll did get something quite right at the top: The first seven teams are likely the seven that may win the national title.

Of course, there will be teams that can make a deep run in March and get a sniff of the Final Four with a magical Elite Eight run. But based on the current performances the first seven teams: Texas, Kentucky, Kansas, Villanova, Syracuse, Duke and Michigan State are playing well enough, have at least one to two stars, a system that is working and consistent, and a coach that has been there before in this situation to make a Final Four run.

A few other thoughts:

*Kansas State coach Frank Martin has done a tremendous job, overcoming a major slight when he received the nod after Bob Huggins left for West Virginia. For him to be No. 9 heading into Monday’s home game against top-ranked Texas is quite remarkable.

*Pitt is No. 11. That’s amazing in itself since the Panthers looked lost in December without Gilbert Brown and Jermaine Dixon. Once again, it’s a credit to the Panthers’ staff for racing out to a 5-0 start.

*Gonzaga is No. 10. The Zags have emerged as the best team in the West.

*BYU is No. 13 and you can make a strong argument for the Cougars to be No. 1 in the West, but having them as No. 2 is fine.

*Purdue dropping to No. 15 from six is about right since the Boilermakers have lost three straight and are about to take themselves out of the Big Ten race. But I would push them to 16 and put Ohio State ahead of them at No. 15 instead of No. 25. The Buckeyes are a Big Ten contender with Evan Turner back. Ohio State won at Purdue and beat Wisconsin last week.

*I have no issues with Tennessee currently at No. 8, although I don’t think that will hold, West Virginia still at No. 12 and Clemson, Temple, Georgia Tech, Wisconsin and Butler 16-20, although with Ohio State in there that would push these back a slot.

*I don’t get how Connecticut can still be ranked. The Huskies’ best win is over Notre Dame. That’s it. Yes, the Huskies look like a top 25 team for stretches of games, especially against Kentucky, Cincinnati and Georgetown. But they didn’t win the games.

*Northern Iowa has shaken the coaches in the power six conferences to get noticed and found its way into the poll at No. 22. The Panthers haven’t lost since, gulp, DePaul (it’s only loss of the season) in a sun-burned moment at the Paradise Jam in the Virgin Islands in November.

*North Carolina is still ranked at No. 23. If you were to base this on how the Tar Heels are currently playing then they don’t get ranked. But the Tar Heels still have wins over Ohio State (with Turner) and Michigan State at home. Lose one more in this streak and the Tar Heels won’t be ranked next week.

*Ole Miss is ranked at No. 24. Mississippi State is not ranked. I’d have to switch these two. The Bulldogs have more nonconference losses out of the power six (Rider, Richmond, Western Kentucky) but the Bulldogs won at Ole Miss and is atop the SEC West without a blemish.

*Of the teams receiving votes, Virginia would be higher up on the list and on the verge of sneaking in if it can win at Wake Forest this week. Not sure I understand how San Diego State, Saint Mary’s or Old Dominion could have received a vote this past week.

HARTFORD, Conn. -- It's the Big East. What were you expecting, poetry?

Pitt and UConn have tangoed and tangled in a slugfest that may not match Villanova-Louisville for fouls but is toe-to-toe for toughness.

I've been impressed with both teams, frankly: a very young Pitt team's ability to keep its composure on the road and hold the lead despite 1-of-7 shooting from Jermaine Dixon, and the Huskies' ability to claw out of an 18-8 hole despite any perimeter game. Stanley Robinson, who sometimes seems to fade from the game, has been on tonight with 13 points including a windmill dunk that I have a feeling will make SportsCenter at some point. Robinson got the ball on a break all alone and the entire crowd inhaled, waiting to see what he would do. He didn't disappoint.

But UConn's lack of even the slightest outside threat has been a real killer, allowing Pitt to clog the lane and basically dare the Huskies to shoot. And they can't. They just don't have a guy.

Pitt, on the meantime, started out shooting like a house afire, connecting on 54 percent, but that's steadily dropped as UConn has stepped up the defensive intensity. The Panthers go to the locker room connecting on just 38 percent from the floor. It will be interesting to see how the Panthers handle that. Usually a team that plays defense first and worries about offense later, this Pitt team has shot the ball well heading into this game. Be we'll see if Pitt has the tenacity to play the kind of D that is a hallmark of a Jamie Dixon game in the second half.

Don't expect much to change here when the ball goes up. It's going to be rough and tough, so might as well buckle up.

HARTFORD, Conn. -- Looking forward to watching Pitt tangle with UConn here at the XL Center in a little while. The Panthers have turned a lot of heads -- present company included -- with their 3-0 start in the league.

It's not hard to figure out what's different. Gilbert Brown and Jermaine Dixon are back. By the grace of good timing, I ran into assistant coach Tom Herrion in the hotel lobby this afternoon and he made the exact right point: it's like having men back in the lineup. Prior to their returns, the Panthers roster had a combined one start in their careers.

But Pitt will get an interesting test from the Huskies. This UConn team isn't as great as some of the legendary ones, but the Huskies like to get out and run and own a lot of speed and athleticism at every position and coming off a loss to Georgetown, you gotta think UConn comes out ready to play.

Pitt didn’t have Gilbert Brown or Jermaine Dixon for practice for much of the first semester. Brown was ineligible and Dixon was recovering from a broken foot. Now that they’re on board, the Panthers are complete.

They’re still flawed and not very deep off the bench in terms of production, but they’re a confident crew. Dixon made 7 of 8 free throws, Brown added 17 points off the bench and the most reliable player, point Ashton Gibbs, scored 19 points on 10 of 11 free throws to lead the Panthers to a 74-71 win at Cincinnati on Monday.

Pitt has now won at Syracuse and Cincinnati to race out to a 3-0 start in the Big East. The third and final road game in a grueling start to the league season is at Connecticut next Wednesday.

Pitt is used to being atop the Big East standings, but no one -- especially after the Panthers lost to Indiana in the Jimmy V Classic -- could have predicted this turnaround. It’s early, way early, but Jamie Dixon has to be the frontrunner for Big East coach of the year.

Pitt didn’t do anything to warrant an at-large bid save for a win over Wichita State in Kansas City. Pitt had to earn its bid in the Big East. So far the Panthers are doing everything right.

NEW YORK -- The team won't come right out and say it, but it's hard to dispute the notion that Indiana would have no chance to beat No. 4 Kentucky on Saturday if the Hoosiers had not beaten Pitt on Tuesday night.

The Hoosiers still are looking at a monumental challenge Saturday at Assembly Hall in Bloomington. But to pull off a major upset in UK’s first true road game of the season, the Hoosiers had to enter the game with some sort of confidence.

They have plenty now after holding off the Panthers 74-64 in the nightcap of the Jimmy V Classic at Madison Square Garden.

The young Hoosiers whiffed on all three games in the Puerto Rico Tip-Off Classic, including losses to Boston University of the America East and a George Mason team that is currently 4-5. The other loss was to a likely NCAA tournament team in Ole Miss, and falling to Maryland at home in the Big Ten/ACC Challenge wasn’t a confidence killer, either. But the Hoosiers had to beat someone from a power six conference before Kentucky comes calling this weekend.

“Oh man, we were begging for it,’’ IU point guard Jeremiah Rivers said. “We’ve been working so hard to get a win. We needed this win so badly. We needed it for our confidence, for our sanity.’’

Indiana coach Tom Crean looked like he was running for the Senate after the game, shaking hands with the Hoosier fans, who were clearly louder than their Pitt counterparts at MSG. He brought in his fellow politician/brother-in-law Jim Harbaugh. The Stanford football coach delivered, according to Crean, an unbelievable halftime speech that had the Hoosiers as energized for a half as they’ve been this season.

Crean even said No. 2 Kentucky was calling Saturday. It’s actually No. 4.

“I lied, but by Friday night, they may be No. 1,’’ Crean said. “They’re the real deal; as much talent on the floor as anybody we’ll see.’’

Crean said Saturday’s game against the Wildcats isn’t the Hoosiers’ season. And it’s not. No one expects the game to be close, let alone a win. What Crean needs to see from this crew -- what he saw Tuesday from Verdell Jones III (7-of-13 for 20 points), Christian Watford (18 points) and Rivers (a solid floor game) -- is progress.

The Hoosiers defended the Panthers well as Nasir Robinson went 0-for-7 inside and Pitt shot just 32.3 percent for the game.

As for Rivers, who was nursing a pinched nerve in his back, Crean isn’t concerned about him hanging with Kentucky point guard John Wall.

“If he’s healthy, he’ll do fine,’’ Crean said. “Jeremiah is one of the fastest guys in the country. But you’re not guarding John Wall with one person. You need team defense, transition defense and it has to be as good as it has been. We’re going to have to have a Michigan State times two effort on Saturday.’’

Rivers said he’ll be ready to play Saturday and that he and Wall will be going up and down the court in a “track meet” since they’re both “speedy and athletic.’’

What the Hoosiers need more than anything, though, is a rocking Assembly Hall. Crean said he expects it to be as loud as it has ever been.

* Pitt’s Ashton Gibbs took 25 shots to score 25 points. Jermaine Dixon, the only starter back from last year's Elite Eight team, played in his first game of the season after sitting out with a broken foot that was surgically repaired twice in the offseason. Dixon was limited to 13 minutes and missed both shots he attempted.

Gilbert Brown, who should be a solid scorer for the Panthers, will return from academic suspension on Dec. 19. Pitt coach Jamie Dixon said Brown hasn’t been able to practice during his academic suspension. Clearly, though, the Panthers will be better once Brown and Dixon are at full strength.

Pitt now has three straight home games against Kent State, Mount Saint Mary's and Ohio before opening Big East play against DePaul on Dec. 28.

“I think we’re going to be good,’’ Gibbs said. “Gil can knock down shots. Jermaine is a great penetrator and playmaker for this team. If we start to defend and get stops, the offense will come.’’

Still, the Panthers will have to get more inside, something that was a given for them in previous years with DeJuan Blair. Robinson and Gary McGhee combined to shoot 10 percent (1-of-10). Freshman Dante Taylor came off the bench and was 4-of-4.

NEW YORK -- There's a good chance Jermaine Dixon will make his season debut in the late game of the Jimmy V Classic against Indiana (ESPN, 9:30 p.m. ET) at Madison Square Garden.

Dixon, the only returning starter from last season's Elite Eight Panthers, broke his foot in the offseason and has been steadily improving in practice.

The Panthers desperately need Dixon's offense after managing just 15 points in the first half against New Hampshire last weekend. Point guard Ashton Gibbs hasn't been a problem. Gibbs, who led Dixon's USA Under-19 team to the gold medal in New Zealand last July, has been averaging 16 points and dishing out 2.1 assists in his role replacing Levance Fields. Fields had to be much more of a distributing point guard (with the occasional big shot late in games) with Sam Young and DeJuan Blair as his primary scoring forwards.

But Gibbs has to be thinking to score more often. He has a wing with scoring potential in Brad Wanamaker, but the Panthers need some more scoring pop.

Pitt has been grinding out games so far this season, coming back to beat Wofford in the opener, taking two overtimes to knock out city rival Duquesne last week, and then going through the ugly affair with UNH that ended with the Panthers winning 47-32.

Meanwhile, Indiana has shown plenty of signs of life of late, even though the results don't show it. IU lost all three games in the Puerto Rico Tip-Off Classic to Ole Miss, Boston University and George Mason (it's amazing to think that in the same season UCLA and Indiana went 0-3 in an eight-team field). But the Hoosiers gave Maryland fits for much of their matchup before succumbing by 12 in the Big Ten/ACC Challenge game last week in Bloomington.

Tom Crean has the Hoosiers, much like the Panthers, trying to be a defensive, physical team. Still, Indiana will need to find scorers and can't have some lines like the ones that were produced against the Terps (Derek Elston and Devan Dumes were each 2-of-10 while Verdell Jones III was 3-of-15 and the Hoosiers were a combined 7-of-26 on 3s).

Defense should be the theme of all four teams at the Jimmy V Classic. If one team gets to 70 points, that might be a story.

"They are four very good defensive teams and all make it hard for the opponent to score," said Georgetown coach John Thompson III, whose team faces Butler in the opening game (ESPN, 7 p.m. ET). "I don't know the answer to the question [if any team will get 70], but I just hope we have one more point than Butler."