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KEYSTONE STATE BATTLE FOR FINAL FOUR

Pitt, Villanova square off for Final Four berth out of the East

When Villanova got past Pittsburgh 67-57 back on January 28th, ‘Nova coach Jay Wright thought he had seen the last of the Panthers for the year.

“I said to our staff after the game, I said, Thank God we played them in here on this night and we don’t have to see them again,” Wright said. “I really didn’t think we were going to see them. But here they are. And they are good.”

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BUY NCAA Tournament East Final (Pitt vs Villanova) March 28, 2009
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The game on January 28th was not just your ordinary Big East conference game in the middle of a grueling 18-game league schedule, especially for Villanova. The game was the last college basketball game scheduled to be played at the historic Spectrum, the site of classic NCAA Tournament championships and exciting regionals as well as NBA championships. The game was an event to the entire Philadelphia basketball community.

“I almost, in a weird way, felt sorry for Pitt that night,” Wright said. “It…the last game of the Spectrum. It’s about 100 degrees in there. The place is packed, there’s all kinds of history. Everybody is fired up. They’re just walking in for a regular Big East game.”

Wright continued, “the game had been promoted in Philadelphia. And the place was electric. At the end of the game the whole place is standing. There was a huge banner, the last game ever played, Pitt versus Villanova. For them it was a regular season game. For us and everybody in Philadelphia it was a big, big event.”

In that meeting, DeJuan Blair, the Big East’s co-Player of the Year was held to just 7 points and 8 rebounds. Blair only played 23 minutes because of foul trouble, picking up two early fouls in the first half and another quick one in the second half. Jay Wright expects to see plenty of the ‘Big Fella’ on the floor Saturday.

“He was going for steals, he was being overly aggressive when he didn’t have to,” Wright said of the fouls Blair picked up in the first meeting. “We’ve watched a lot of Pitt games preparing for other teams, he’s gotten much better
at that.”

“We’re going to I noticed last night he played 17 minutes in the first half, one foul. He’s learned a lot. We’re going to have to deal with him for 40 minutes, I think, tomorrow.”

Villanova is not really big and strong or very deep in the paint. The 6’7, 265-lb Blair is a tough match-up for teams with two or three strong rebounders, if he can stay on the floor, he changes the entire look of the Panthers attack.

“The biggest thing for us is to definitely keep DeJuan out of foul trouble,” Levance Fields noted as a key for Pitt compared to the first meeting. “His presence alone when he’s on the court makes us a better team.”

With Blair out of the game, Pitt’s domination of the boards was neutralized, allowing Villanova more second chance opportunities and allowing them to set up their pressure defense as it kept Pitt out of being able to get into their transition offense. The result was 17 Pitt turnovers, another key in the game for Saturday.

“I think we turned the ball over a little bit too much against their pressure,” Sam Young referring back to the first meeting.

In their January 28th meeting, Pitt got out of the gates quickly, grabbing a 19-9 lead as the Panther defense was dominant early on. Blair picked up his second foul with 8:33 left in the first half with the 10-point bulge.

The Wildcats quickly took advantage of Blair’s absence ripping off a 15-4 run in five minutes to take the lead. Pitt was able to regain their footing and a 6-point run by Gilbert Brown to close the half put Pitt up 31-26 at the break.

It took Blair all of a 1:29 in the second half to pick up his next foul and find a seat on the bench. A minute later, Villanova had the lead. The game was nip and tuck until Villanova delivered a knockout 11-3 run to take a 59-51 lead with just 2:46 left in the contest, spurred on by the electric atmosphere and energized crowd.

“I just thought the crowd that night and that environment had a big effect on the game,” coach Wright said. “That’s not going to be here tomorrow. It’s going to be a different kind of game.”

Which kind of game will it be will decide the outcome. Will the game be dictated by Pittsburgh’s brawn and physical toughness inside? Or will the defensive pressure that Villanova can apply to an opposing backcourt set the tone?

Corey Fisher, Scottie Reynolds and Reggie Redding will try and get up on the Pittsburgh ballhandlers, especially Levance Fields, and try to push their offense away from the basket, making it tough to make entry passes inside to Blair or find Young in mismatches in the paint.

The Panthers seem to be getting off to slower starts in the NCAA Tournament as some of their aggressiveness has been checked early on. It could be their philosophy in keeping Blair out of foul trouble. They will need to play with the smart aggressiveness they displayed in the second half of their win over Xavier against the Wildcats. The Panthers hit the boards and ratcheted up the defense to outscore the Musketeers 31-18 in the second half.

Pittsburgh is a 2-point favorite according to the latest college basketball betting odds. With the Sweet 16 roadblock in their rearview mirror and a familiar opponent in front of them, look for Pitt to gain revenge for the early season loss as Blair stays out of foul trouble and the Pitt muscle is too much as the Panther hold off the Wildcats.

NBE Blogger Prediction:

Pittsburgh 73
Villanova 67

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