Pitt ready to start Big East Conference action
PITTSBURGH – After beating Florida A&M 77-51 Saturday to finish the non-conference schedule with a 12-2 record, tenth-ranked Pitt begins Big East Conference play Thursday night at Syracuse. Pittsburgh coach Jamie Dixon felt the win against the Rattlers was good preparation for the conference opener.
“We got a chance to play against the 2-3 zone tonight which can only help us against Syracuse,” Dixon said. “We needed preparation for the 2-3 because we hadn’t seen much of it so far this year.”
The Panthers won their first 10 games this year before dropping 2-of-3 on a 3-game road trip. After winning at Buffalo on Dec. 9, Pitt suffered its first loss of the season at Wisconsin, ranked No. 10 at the time, on Dec. 16, 89-75. The Panthers followed with a tough double-overtime loss, 95-89 against Oklahoma State in Oklahoma City five days later.
Pitt bounced back, though, and won its last two games before the new year, against Dayton, 84-54, to go with the victory against Florida A&M.
Dixon feels this year’s non-conference slate was good preparation for the upcoming conference season for many reasons.
“We put ourselves in a good position,” Dixon said. “We have the highest RPI we’ve ever had, we played the toughest schedule in the conference, and played more road games than anybody else in the Big East.”
The Rattlers (6-7) also played a tough non-conference schedule that included road games at Maryland, Miami, Illinois, and defending national champion Florida. Head coach Mike Gillespie feels Pitt is as good as any of the other teams the Rattlers faced this year.
“We played four of the top teams in the country and Pittsburgh deserves to be one of them. I was very impressed with Pitt and certainly would love to see them play Florida,” Gillespie said. “If they shoot the ball like they shot against us, they have a chance to be in the Final Four.”
During this year’s non-conference schedule, 7-foot senior center Aaron Gray was the team’s top scorer, rebounder, and shot-blocker. He averaged over 16 points, over 10 rebounds and almost two blocks per game.
“I thought we did very well as a team in getting ready for this year’s Big East season,” Gray said. “I’m excited about getting started this week and I’ll do whatever I need in order to help our team win.”
Sophomore point guard Levance Fields led the team in assists over the 14 games. He also feels the Panthers are ready for conference play to begin.
“Even though we didn’t win every game and lost two tough road games, our 12-2 record was a good first step to this year’s season,” Fields said. “We have the highest RPI ever in recent years and I think that will also help us down the road.”
Dixon is amused that Pitt is considered a veteran team although they are playing more inexperienced players than veterans.
“We must be the most inexperienced experienced team in the country,” Dixon said. “When you look at our guys, Aaron (Gray) and Antonio (Graves) and Levon (Kendall) are seniors but Mike Cook is playing for us for the first time, Levance hadn’t started before, and he and Sam (Young) Tyrell (Biggs) are only sophomores, and even though Keith (Benjamin) is a junior, he hasn’t played as much either.”
Cook is a junior, but transferred, so he sat out last year. He is looking forward to playing in the Big East for the first time.
“It’s real exciting for me right now because I’ve been waiting to play in the Big East since last year. It’s one of the biggest reasons I came to Pitt,” Cook said. “It’s also exciting to start conference play in a place like Syracuse.”
After playing Syracuse at the Carrier Dome, the Panthers return to the Petersen Events Center on Jan. 7 at noon to host South Florida in their first home conference game of the season.