Tough road ahead for Panthers

For the past few seasons, many students and fans have griped about Pitt’s seemingly soft,… For the past few seasons, many students and fans have griped about Pitt’s seemingly soft, non-conference schedules.

Those fans will finally get some satisfaction over winter break. The Panthers head into the toughest stretch of their most challenging non-conference schedule in years.

First up is a nationally televised tilt with Oklahoma State on Dec. 15 at the Petersen Events Center. The game is the return matchup of a home-and-home series with the Cowboys. Pitt lost, 95-89, in double overtime in last season’s contest.

The Cowboys are a disappointing 5-3 this season. One of their losses, however, came courtesy of No. 13-ranked Marquette and another came by way of Illinois. The Cowboys easily defeated Washington, which nearly handed Pitt its first loss on Saturday.

Following the graduation of Mario Boggan and the departure of JamesOn Curry for the NBA, the Cowboys now have four freshmen who play at least 10 minutes per contest.

One of the freshmen, forward James Anderson, has quickly emerged as the team’s leader in points (20.6) and minutes per game (32.3). Anderson came to Oklahoma State as a highly heralded recruit and has helped ease the loss of the team’s top two scorers from a season ago.

If Pitt manages to shut down Anderson, however, the Cowboys have only one other player averaging double-digit points.

Following their match up with Oklahoma State, the Panthers will travel to Madison Square Garden in New York City to play Duke on Dec. 20 in what is already their most anticipated non-conference game in recent memory.

Duke descends upon New York undefeated at 9-0 with notable wins against Illinois, Marquette, Wisconsin and Michigan.

Five Blue Devils are averaging double-digit points, led by sophomore guard Gerald Henderson and freshman forward Kyle Singler at 13.6 points per contest.

An interesting subplot to the tilt between two top-10 teams will be the matchup between Singler and Pitt freshman forward DeJuan Blair. Both freshmen have dazzled amid high expectations. While Blair concedes an inch in height to the 6-foot-8-inch Singler, he outweighs his counterpart by 30 pounds.

There is also their sharp contrast in playing styles. Blair is a brutish, and often brutal, force in the paint, while Singler prefers finesse to physicality and jumpers to jams.

Pitt will round out its three-game stretch with a visit to Dayton.

At the beginning of the year, few people had this contest highlighted, but the Flyers garnered national attention on Saturday by outlasting the No. 11-ranked Louisville Cardinals on the road, 70-65.

Senior guard Brian Roberts leads Dayton (7-1) with 19.3 points per game. The Flyers’ only loss came against George Mason, which has already knocked off Kansas State this season.

While Pitt remains undefeated, its margin victory has diminished over each of the past five games, having squeaked out a controversial one-point victory against the Huskies on Saturday.

And while junior Sam Young has elevated his game to lead the team in scoring with 18.1 points per contest, there has been a notable lack of outside shooting, starting with Ronald Ramon.

Ramon currently has fewer points per game (7.4) this season than he has had in either of the past two campaigns. Young, in fact, has raised his 3-point percentage from 31 percent last season to 54.2 percent this season, and has become the Panthers only reliable deep threat thus far.

Pitt, therefore, has consistently pounded the ball down low to Young and Blair, who have also made the most of second-chance opportunities. They both have over 20 offensive rebounds so far this season.

Levance Fields has done a terrific job at spreading the ball around from the point. His 5.8 assists per game lead the team, and four players, including Fields, are averaging double-digit points. His scoring responsibilities will continue to flourish if Ramon and Keith Benjamin cannot contribute more.

Tip-off for Oklahoma State will be at noon this Saturday in the Petersen Events Center. Duke will begin at 7 p.m. on Thursday, Dec. 20. Both contests will be nationally televised by ESPN.

Pitt travels to Dayton Dec. 29. That game should tip off at 8 p.m. Pitt’s final two opponents, Lafayette and Villanova, will start the Panthers’ new year.

Lafayette visits Pitt Jan. 2, and the Panthers travel to Villanova Jan. 6 for the first game of the Big East season.