Pitt and Marquette new rivalry

Boos rained down on the Petersen Events Center floor like a monsoon from a swirling tempest,… Boos rained down on the Petersen Events Center floor like a monsoon from a swirling tempest, furious with rage after head referee Tim Higgins whistled Pitt head coach Jamie Dixon for an uncharacteristic technical foul. It was only the beginning of a long Sunday afternoon, as Marquette handed Pitt its first Big East conference loss of the season, 77-74 in overtime.

But the jeers symbolized something deeper than thinly veiled angst toward Higgins – who incurs the wrath of the Oakland Zoo every time he officiates a Pitt home game. In the heated third meeting between two of the Big East conference’s rising powerhouses since Marquette joined the Big East, the crowd’s fury embodied the newly found spirit and intense atmosphere surrounding a fresh rivalry.

Marquette entered the Big East ranks prior to the 2005-06 season, and met the Panthers twice in that regular season, splitting the decisions with the home team winning each time. Many Pitt fans probably remember Marquette’s trumping of the Panthers in the 2003 NCAA tournament. In each of those contests, the Golden Eagles matched Pitt’s physical style, adding their own flair of athleticism and competitiveness.

“[Sunday] saw two great teams, two great programs battling,” Dixon said. “Credit them for pulling it out.”

Yesterday, James started stewing the juicy thriller from the opening tip-off, scoring 14 first-half points against an unprecedented Pitt zone defense. The logic behind the zone was simple: packing in the lane meant keeping Marquette’s guards – James in particular – out of the paint and away from the basket. Still, the Panthers never play zone defense – which focuses on covering an area rather than a man – very often, if at all.

James, who arrived yesterday toting a 31-percent 3-point shooting percentage, exposed the Panthers’ unfamiliarity with playing zone defense immediately with a pair of 3-pointers, effectively tossing the proverbial wrench into Dixon’s defensive strategy.

Would the Panthers throw combinations of quick guards in man-to-man defense at James to slow him down, or would they sit on the pre-game statistics indicating James’ difficulty with long-range shooting and stick with the zone? As the questions stared down Dixon like hot lights in an interrogation room, James basked in the glow of the coach’s quarry, netting 14 points in the first 20 minutes.

“We knew coming into the game that we had to be in the gaps [against James],” Pitt guard Ronald Ramon said. “We had to play help defense against him, and we didn’t get it done.”

Yet the Panthers responded, focusing on their 7-foot center and go-to guy Aaron Gray during every possession. If the ball was in Gray’s hands, the defense collapsed. Whether Gray turned and took it to the hoop or found an open teammate, Pitt’s offense exposed the advantage early, as Gray tallied eight of his team’s first 10 points.

David had his slingshot, and Goliath had his brute strength.

“Gray is such a good passer,” Marquette head coach Tom Crean said. “It was really important that we focus on him.”

This season, Marquette sprinted into the top 10 of both AP and ESPN/USA Today Coaches’ polls, handling Duke and Texas Tech en route to its 8-0 record. The Golden Eagles struggled soon thereafter, though, and lost some of their hype.

Yet after torching Connecticut, West Virginia and Louisville, one thing remained clear: Marquette is Pitt’s biggest threat for Big East supremacy this season.

In this age of an expanding Big East, we rarely see a head-to-head clash of this magnitude more than once – nor do we see one that heads to overtime like yesterday’s. Luckily for college hoops fans everywhere, the two programs meet again March 3 in Milwaukee, Wis.

“We are definitely looking forward to playing them at their place,” Pitt guard Antonio Graves said after yesterday’s loss.

So as both teams continue to stockpile talent and develop the programs, meetings like this will continue, manifesting themselves only every so often. And one thing became certain Sunday: Every ensuing contest between Marquette and Pitt will be a rivalry showdown – a must-see matchup at that.