Men’s Basketball: Pitt faces tough test against Xavier’s fast team

MILWAUKEE – Neither team is considered among the best college basketball programs… MILWAUKEE – Neither team is considered among the best college basketball programs historically, but both teams are among the best programs of the past decade.

Both teams have appeared in nine of the past 10 NCAA Tournaments. They are both located in cities along the Ohio River, and they both must compete with other professional sports teams in their city.

Both teams advanced to the Sweet Sixteen last year, where they faced each other.

Both teams are 25-8.

But the similarities between Pitt and Xavier end there, because only one team will receive a second consecutive berth in the Sweet Sixteen.

No. 3-seed Pitt’s defensive and physical team will face No. 6-seed Xavier’s fast-paced skill and athleticism tomorrow at 4:50 p.m. in Milwaukee in the second round of the NCAA Tournament.

Last year in the Sweet Sixteen, it looked as if Xavier was going to send Pitt home disappointed.

Instead, the Panthers sent Xavier home to Cincinnati when Levance Fields nailed a go-ahead three pointer with 50.9 seconds remaining. Fields then scored off a turnover to secure the victory, and now the Musketeers will be looking for revenge.

But the two teams look very different this season. Of the 10 players that started in the Sweet Sixteen matchup last year, only three will play in the rematch. Pitt’s Jermaine Dixon and Xavier’s Jason Love and Danté Jackson are the only starters returning.

“We’re two different teams,” Jason Love said. “It’s about this year, and we want to try to advance to the Sweet Sixteen.”

“Last year is last year,” he said.

“These teams are about as different [from last year] as you could be,” Pitt coach Jamie Dixon said.

In Friday’s opening round game against Oakland, Pitt had to focus on stopping the Golden Grizzlies 6-foot-11 center Keith Benson. Dixon used his three big men, Gary McGhee, Dante Taylor and J.J. Richardson to keep Benson at bay. Benson scored 28 points, but it wasn’t enough as the Panthers rolled past Oakland 89-66.

Pitt will need a different game plan for the Musketeers, because Xavier’s leading scorer isn’t a tall center, but rather a tall guard.

Sophomore Jordan Crawford (yes, the Jordan Crawford who dunked on LeBron James) is a 6-foot-4 skilled guard who averages a staggering 19.7 points per game.

“When Jordan gets a little bit of space, he’s awfully good,” Xavier coach Chris Mack said.

“He’s a tough player,” Pitt’s Gilber Brown said. “He has a lot of moves and scores in a variety of ways.”

Dixon said that stopping Crawford is going to be a team effort.

“It will be a team defense,” Dixon said. “Transition defense, I think, is key. We can’t allow him to get anything going in transition.”

“He’s going to get some points,” Dixon said. “We’ve got to make them as tough as possible and guard him as much as possible.”

When Crawford isn’t doing the scoring, Terrell Holloway is. He averages 11.8 points per game, and he leads the team in assists. Thanks to players like this and freshman Mark Lyons, this year’s Xavier team is faster and scores more points than last year’s squad.

When comparing last year’s starters to this year’s, Mack said “if you have those guys in a foot race, it wouldn’t even be close.”

Another force that Pitt will be facing is perhaps the hottest rookie coach in the NCAA. Mack has won 25 games in his first year. His 25th win, which came over Minnesota in the first round on Friday, moved him one game closer to Xavier’s record, which is 26 wins achieved by Thad Matta in the 2001-02 season.

Matta now coaches Ohio State and his No.2-seeded Buckeyes are also playing in Milwaukee. They will face No. 10 seed Georgia Tech in the first game at the Bradley Center tomorrow.

Mack trails only Kentucky’s John Calipari for the best record among this season’s first-year coaches.

He may be in his first year, but Mack has plenty of NCAA Tournament experience. He helped Xavier to

five Tournament appearances as a member of Xavier’s staff and three Tournament appearances as an assistant coach at Wake Forest. He was also the team captain of the 1993 Xavier team that advanced to the second round.

But none of that matters to Xavier. They just want to advance to the Sweet Sixteen again. The fact that they faced Pitt last year is no matter

“Let’s just worry about this year and this team,” Love said. “We really want to get to the Sweet Sixteen, and that’s our whole focus right now.”