Men’s Basketball: Oakland Zoo plans on bringing heart health awarness to Backyard Brawl

Friday night, when the ESPN cameras turn on at the Petersen Events Center, people around the… Friday night, when the ESPN cameras turn on at the Petersen Events Center, people around the country will keep an interested eye on the behavior of the Oakland Zoo. The image and message that they receive might surprise them.

While some viewers might tune in with expectations of observing a rowdy, retaliatory effort, the Pitt student section will utilize the national television audience for a more important purpose.

Friday’s Backyard Brawl has been deemed the Heart Health Game by the Pitt athletic department and the Oakland Zoo. The event is to recognize February as American Heart Month and to continue to honor the memory of Jamie Dixon’s late sister, Maggie Dixon.

Members of the student section will be given red leis as they arrive, and the Pitt coaching staff will sport red lapel pins to commemorate the event. Besides the symbolic apparel, students will also receive information about heart health and locations where heart screenings take place.

The event is a continuation of the informative effort that took place in October at the Maggie Dixon Heart Health Fair, which was held in the Petersen Events Center.

According to Oakland Zoo vice president Max Greenwald, the leaders of the student section worked closely with the athletic department to create an occasion that would respectfully acknowledge Maggie Dixon while simultaneously distribute information about a topic that isn’t widely discussed on college campuses.

“Organizations like the Oakland Zoo or other student sections at bigger schools get a lot of attention because they’re loud and they’re crazy. [Events] like this allow us to use that sort of attention and notoriety … to put forth an important message,” Greenwald said.

Josh Frantz, president of the Oakland Zoo, indicated the event has been in planning for a while and that the West Virginia game was chosen because of the large audience that it will attract.

“We’re just trying to do whatever we can to put Pitt in a good light and raise awareness,” Frantz said.

The Zoo leaders acknowledge that they would like to see the event become an annual tradition that expands from this point.

Both the Heart Health Fair and the corresponding game are constructed in remembrance of Maggie Dixon. In 2006, while head coaching the Army women’s basketball team, Dixon died of a heart arrhythmia at the age of 28.

The Maggie Dixon Classic was established later that year and is currently held in Madison Square Garden. Since its creation in 2006, the basketball double-header has featured traditional powers of both women’s and men’s basketball like Rutgers, Connecticut and Tennessee.

The game this evening is another instance of Dixon’s legacy actions people can take aftertragic situations.

As for the Brawl …

On the court, the Panthers will look to extract some measure of payback for the 70-51 beating they took in Morgantown less than two weeks ago.

Though this is the 180th time that these teams have met, it is only the fifth time that both No. 25 Pitt (18-6, 7-4 Big East) and No. 5 West Virginia (19-4, 8-3 Big East) will be ranked in the top 25 when playing.

The rematch provides two key Panthers with an opportunity to redeem themselves for their earlier effort. The first time Pitt and West Virginia squared off this season, forward Gilbert Brown and guard Brad Wanamaker were held scoreless.

In 18 minutes Brown was 0-4 shooting and missed a free throw. Similarly, in 30 minutes Wanamaker missed four field goal attempts and failed to convert two free throws.

Defensively, the Panthers will need to handle a group of strong, tall and versatile forwards. Da’Sean Butler and Kevin Jones scored 18 and 16 points, respectively, during the season’s first Brawl.

Throw in the 6-foot-9 pair Devin Ebanks and the Turkish revelation Deniz Kilicli, and the Mountaineers become a hassle to defend against.

If the Panthers have a great equalizer it is the home-court advantage for which the Petersen Events Center is known. Considering the circus that erupted at the West Virginia University Coliseum nine days ago when fans threw things on the court, including what was apparently a coin that hit Pitt assistant coach Tom Herrion in the face, the Pitt fan base will likely be motivated to generate an energetic atmosphere.

Pitt head coach Jamie Dixon expects the same type of civil bedlam that has taken place during previous important showdowns at the Petersen Events Center.

“Our arena has had some great atmospheres, I’m sure that’ll be the same thing,” Dixon said after the Robert Morris game. “I hate to say ‘typical.’ It’s maybe typical for here but untypical for other places in the country.”

With a victory, Pitt will draw even with Georgetown and West Virginia for third place in the Big East standings. The top four teams in the conference rankings receive a double-bye in the Big East tournament.

Pitt is 5-0 at the Petersen Events Center when playing top-5 teams. Friday’s tipoff is at 9 p.m.