Blair

BOSTON – Pitt center DeJuan Blair was a perfect 9-of-9 shooting from the field against… BOSTON – Pitt center DeJuan Blair was a perfect 9-of-9 shooting from the field against Villanova, but hit just two of his six free throws. Pitt as a team was 21 for 29 from the line, while Villanova went 22 for 23.

While he struggled to connect on the free ones, Blair finished the game with 10 rebounds and now has the school record for rebounds in NCAA Tournament games with 72. Dixon said he doesn’t know yet or wants to think about whether Blair, who is a projected first-round NBA Draft pick, will return for his junior season.

‘That’s something that’s probably not a good time, not the right time to be thinking about it,’ said Dixon. ‘I think this is about our kids. I’m more focused on my three seniors right now and their careers. We just had an incredible game and two very good teams playing their hearts out and they left everything on the floor.

Young, Blair awarded

-Pitt senior forward Sam Young and Blair were named to the East Regional all-tournament team.

-Young averaged 23.3 points per game in his four contests, totaling 93 points in all. Blair added 16.8 points and 13.8 rebounds per game, both improvements on his season averages.

-Villanova players Dwayne Anderson and Dante Cunningham were also named to the team, while Wildcat Scottie Reynolds was credited as the most outstanding player. Reynolds tallied 12.5 points per game in the East Region, but hit the huge shot to lift Villanova to the Final Four.

Something about the second half

-It was the second Villanova-Pitt matchup this season in which Pitt was favored by more than two points, and the second time the Panthers held a halftime lead before eventually falling.

-Pitt led by five during the last contest and eventually lost the game by 10, 67-57. The Panthers led by two at the break on Saturday night and were outscored by four in the second period.

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Other stats and trends

-The last time the Big East had two teams in the Final Four was in 1987, when Syracuse and Providence made the trip. Led by coach Bob Knight, Indiana eventually won the title.

-With the loss, Pitt’s all-time NCAA Tournament record dropped to 21-22.