Panthers prepare for the Red Storm

The last time Pitt freshman DeJuan Blair played against his best friend and high school… The last time Pitt freshman DeJuan Blair played against his best friend and high school teammate D.J. Kennedy was in an elementary school championship game. That day, Kennedy’s team came away with a victory.

On Wednesday, when Blair’s No. 13 Panthers tip off at 7 p.m. at Madison Square Garden to take on Kennedy’s St. John’s Red Storm, Blair will be hoping for a different outcome.

“It’s tough going up against one your best friends, your brother,” Blair said of Kennedy. “It’ll be different, but you still have to battle.”

Pitt (15-3, 3-2 Big East), coming off a roller coaster week of highs – downing No. 9 Georgetown – and lows – dropping three-point loss at unranked Cincinnati, looks to improve on its conference and road records at a place where the team has seen much success in recent years: Madison Square Garden.

Over the past eight seasons, Pitt is 18-8 at MSG, including a thrilling 65-64 overtime victory earlier this season beating then-No. 5 Duke.

The Panthers’ success at the basketball Mecca has prompted many within the program to dub the Garden Pitt’s “home away from home.”

“You’ve got to make your second home where the Big East championship is going to be,” Blair said.

Despite the impressive clip there, however, Pitt has dropped its past three games at the Garden against St. John’s (7-9, 1-4 Big East). The Panthers topped St. John’s last season, 72-46, at the Petersen Events Center.

Pitt coach Jamie Dixon, who has lost back-to-back games five times in his five-year tenure as Pitt’s head coach, knows that in order for his team to get back on the winning track, it will come by rebounding.

“We have to win the rebounding battle by at least 10,” Dixon said. “It’s something we stress every game.”

The battle of the boards has been something at which Dixon’s team has excelled all season. Of their 18 opponents this year, the Panthers have out-rebounded 14 of them. When Cincinnati out-rebounded Pitt by one in Saturday’s game, Dixon saw that as a difference-maker.

And with a Red Storm team that rebounds well – averaging about 37 boards per contest holding opponents to 34 – it’s a message Dixon will continue to reinforce with his team.

The Panthers will also continue to rely on the leadership of senior guards Keith Benjamin and Ronald Ramon. Both have seen their production increase with more minutes because of injuries to Pitt starters Mike Cook and Levance Fields.

Over the past six games, Benjamin averages 16 points per game, shooting nearly 60 percent from the field. Ramon has answered many questions about his ball-handling skills, establishing a three-to-one assist-to-turnover ratio.

“Everybody always says Pitt seniors come up short,” Benjamin said. “I’m not having that. We’re not having that.”

Still, much focus will be on Blair and Kennedy. The Schenley High School teammates have both started every game for their respective teams this year and have put up impressive numbers in the scoring and rebounding columns.

Both were recruited by their hometown Panthers, but it was Kennedy who decided he needed a change of scenery.

“I wish he would have come here,” Blair said. “But it’s good he went there. He’s starting.”

With four of the Panthers’ next five games coming at home, this road game is especially important. The Panthers know it will come down to playing a sharp game. And as with any game in the World’s Most Famous Arena, the players are ready to enjoy themselves.

“We always just like to have fun in the Garden,” Benjamin said.