Panthers draw No. 4 seed in South region

After an incredible Big East Tournament run this past weekend, Pitt learned its NCAA… After an incredible Big East Tournament run this past weekend, Pitt learned its NCAA Tournament fate Sunday at the Petersen Events Center.

The Panthers were not disappointed.

Pitt is a No. 4 seed in the South Region and will play 13th-seeded Oral Roberts in the first round.

The game will be played Thursday. Game time will be announced today. Although the Panthers are in the South Region, their first contest will be at the Pepsi Center in Denver, Colo.

Pitt earned its high seed by running off four victories in as many days in the Big East tournament in New York, culminating in a 74-65 win over regular-season conference champion Georgetown.

Pitt also knocked off Cincinnati, Louisville and Marquette over the weekend. The Panthers were definitely happy with their placement in the NCAA Tournament.

“I think it’s pretty good for us,” Pitt junior Sam Young said. “It was pretty much expected, a four or a five seed.”

“I think with our situation, there was probably a lot of back and forth,” Pitt coach Jamie Dixon said. “We weren’t locked into a certain seed.”

Pitt erupted when its seed was announced, but more roars of excitement exploded when the Panthers learned of their first-round opponent. However, the team doesn’t know much about the Oral Roberts Golden Eagles.

“Nothing at all,” senior guard Ronald Ramon said. “We’ll watch film and see what kind of plays they run.”

“They’ve had a long history of good basketball programs,” Dixon said. “We have to play good basketball on Thursday. We’re playing a team that’s used to winning.”

The Panthers have never squared off against Oral Roberts, but the Golden Eagles are no stranger to postseason play. They finished first in the Summit League this year, with a 22-8 record and a 16-2 finish in the Summit League. Oral Roberts won its conference tournament.

Junior guard Robert Jarvis leads the team in scoring at 16 points per game. The 5-foot-11-inch Jarvis averages 2.3 rebounds and two assists in 29-plus minutes a contest. Earlier this season, Jarvis scored 21 points in Oral Roberts’ 74-59 win against Oklahoma State, a team Pitt defeated, 85-68, on Dec. 15.

The Golden Eagles lost to Washington State, 70-54, in the first round of the NCAA Tournament last year. This will be their third consecutive Tournament appearance and fifth in school history.

Pitt landed in a region that appears to be very competitive. The second overall seed, Memphis, earned the No. 1 seed in the region. If Pitt advances to the Sweet 16, Memphis would likely be its opponent. The Tigers have only lost one game all year, and it was to then-No. 2 Tennessee.

If the Panthers defeat Oral Roberts, they will have no time to rest easy before Saturday’s matchup. Pitt would play the winner of No. 5-seeded Michigan State against 12th-seeded Temple.

With all the talk centering on seedings and potential matchups, Pitt was more concerned about the strength of its own squad.

“I feel good about us, that’s the most important thing,” Dixon said. “I feel good about the way we’re playing. Our rotation is good. We got quality minutes from our reserves [in the Big East Tournament].”

“We’re peaking at the right time,” center DeJuan Blair added. “We’re playing the best right now, and I think the best is yet to come. This team is hungry. We’re hungry for wins.”

The Panthers are focused on not getting ahead of themselves after their performance in the Big East Tournament and not looking ahead at future contests.

“The way we’re playing right now, and the confidence we have, is good,” Ramon said, “but we’ve got to take it one day at a time.”

Dixon was asked whether the altitude in Denver could prove troublesome for his team, which is used to playing games a little closer to sea level. He didn’t buy that idea.

“We know how to handle that – it’ll be something that’s overplayed by the media,” Dixon said.

The other top seeds in the South are Texas, which earned the No. 2 seed, and Stanford, which grabbed the No. 3 seed.

The Big East took a total of eight bids for the tournament, with Villanova probably getting the last at-large bid. The Wildcats earned their place by knocking off Syracuse in the first round of the Big East Tournament.

North Carolina was given the overall No. 1 seed and was placed in the East region. Memphis, UCLA and Kansas round out the other top seeds.

This is the seventh consecutive year Pitt has made the NCAA Tournament, a record for the school. Only seven other teams have done so in the same period. It is also the team’s 20th appearance.

This year is also the first time the Panthers received a No. 4.

Pitt has advanced to the Sweet 16 in four of the past six NCAA tournaments, but it has yet to emerge victorious in that game. Last year, Pitt lost to UCLA in the Sweet 16.