Panther basketball team to face stiffer test in early going
PITTSBURGH (AP) – Pitt got off to a 15-1 start last season with the help of a soft early season schedule, but the Panthers appear to have a tougher December ahead of them this year. Pitt played all but one of its first 14 games in Pittsburgh last season, a mid-December victory at Ohio State. In the 2002-03 season, the Panthers – expected to start the season in the Top 10 – will play December road games against Penn State, Rhode Island and Georgia.
Georgia will be an afternoon game played on New Year’s Eve.
The Panthers open the season Nov. 23 against city rival Duquesne in the first regular season game in the new Petersen Events Center, which already is sold out for the season. All 12,500 seats were sold on a season-ticket basis by early September.
The Panthers will play four straight home games to open the season – against Duquesne, St. Francis, Arkansas-Pine Bluff and Norfolk State – before playing at Penn State on Dec. 7. The top December home game is a Dec. 18 rematch with Ohio State.
Pitt’s first Big East game is Jan. 6 at home against Notre Dame. The Panthers also have conference home games against Syracuse, Georgetown, Providence, West Virginia, Rutgers, Seton Hall and Connecticut, a March 2 rematch of last season’s Big East tournament championship game.
The Panthers, who return all five starters from their 29-6 team of last season, will play conference road games against Rutgers, West Virginia, Syracuse, Notre Dame, Seton Hall, Georgetown, Virginia Tech and Villanova.