Panthers’ drive to title begins today

A No. 16 seed has never defeated a No. 1 in the NCAA Tournament, but don’t tell East Tennessee… A No. 16 seed has never defeated a No. 1 in the NCAA Tournament, but don’t tell East Tennessee State that. The Buccaneers (23-10, 14-6 Atlantic Sun) look to derail Pitt’s (28-4, 15-3 Big East) quest for a national championship early when the two teams tip off Friday afternoon in Dayton, Ohio, at 2:55 p.m. ‘We’re playing really well right now,’ said East Tennessee State coach Murry Bartow. ‘We’re looking forward to playing the game.’ The Buccaneers don’t see themselves as a No. 16 seed. ‘From a seeding standpoint, I really felt that we would probably be a 14, maybe slip to a 15,’ said Bartow. ‘I was very surprised when we were a 16 seed.’ Likewise, Pitt is not looking past the Buccaneers. ‘[East Tennessee State is] obviously a good team,’ said Pitt center DeJuan Blair. ‘They made the tournament, and I’d like to congratulate them for that.’ The Buccaneers earned an automatic bid into the Tournament after winning the Atlantic Sun tournament, defeating top-seeded Jacksonville, 85-68, for the title. They also beat three-time reigning conference champion Belmont in the event. ‘We know the Atlantic Sun conference a little bit,’ said Pitt coach Jamie Dixon. ‘There’s a lot of good basketball in that league.’ The Panthers defeated Belmont in a non-conference affair at the Petersen Events Center on Nov. 25, where senior forward Sam Young propelled Pitt with a career-high 33 points. Blair didn’t play in that game. Pitt is coming off a 74-60 loss to West Virginia in the Big East tournament quarterfinals. ‘It’s behind us now,’ said Panthers guard Brad Wanamaker. ‘I wish we would have won the game and tried to play for another Big East Championship, but it’s behind us now, and we’re looking forward to making a run at the Final Four.’ The early exit allowed one wounded Panther to heal. The Associated Press reported that Levance Fields practiced Wednesday for the first time in nearly two weeks. As Fields rejoins Blair and Young full time, East Tennessee State has its own prominent trio. Senior forward Kevin Tiggs paces all Atlantic Sun players with 21.5 points per game, while senior guard Courtney Pigram is third in the conference in scoring at 17.6 per contest. Fellow guard Mike Smith also averages more than 15 points per game. ‘The big three really played great at the [Atlantic Sun] tournament for us,’ said Bartow. ‘We’re playing good right now. We’re playing our best basketball of the year.’ East Tennessee State has yet to play a ranked opponent this season, though Bartow ‘mdash; who was with the NCAA Tournament-winning 1987 Indiana Hoosiers as a graduate assistant ‘mdash; knew March Madness would change that. ‘We knew that first-round game was going to be against probably a top-10 team whatever our seed was,’ said Bartow. ‘We knew it was going to be a good team, and we knew it was going to be the best team we’d played all year.’ Despite the lack of quality opponents, the school has a history of close NCAA Tournament games. The 1989 Buccaneers, a No. 16 seed, like the 2009 squad, came within a basket of knocking off No. 1 Oklahoma, losing 72-71. In their last Tournament appearance in 2004, they nearly upset No. 4-seeded Cincinnati, falling by three. ‘I think as a team, we just got to take that [history] and just feed off it,’ said Pigram. The victor of the game will face the winner between No. 8 seed Oklahoma State and No. 9 seed Tennessee. Oklahoma State defeated rival Oklahoma in the Big 12 tournament before bowing out, while the Volunteers are 3-0 in the first round under coach Bruce Pearl. ‘I think we got the toughest bracket, but it’s really not a problem to us,’ said Pitt junior Jermaine Dixon. ‘We expected that.’