A closer look…

The Teams: Riding a four-game winning streak, the Pitt Panthers (14-2 overall, 2-0 Big… The Teams: Riding a four-game winning streak, the Pitt Panthers (14-2 overall, 2-0 Big East) will look to continue their winning ways tonight when they head west to the Windy City. Awaiting them will be the DePaul Blue Demons (10-6, 1-1), a dangerous team with an impressive non-conference win over Kansas this season. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m. ET.

Coverage: The game will be a national telecast on ESPN2. The Pitt Panthers Radio Network will have the call on 94.5 FM (WWSW), as will 970 AM (WBGG). SIRIUS Satellite Radio will broadcast through channel 181, the DePaul feed.

The Coaches: Sunday’s 69-48 conquest of South Florida marked Pitt head coach Jamie Dixon’s 90th career win. Dixon (90-28 in four seasons) is the winningest coach, by percentage, in the Big East. DePaul counters with Jerry Wainwright, who is 22-21 in his second season coaching the Blue Demons.

Last Time Out: Pitt struggled in finding its rhythm early before eventually pulling away from a pesky DePaul team, 73-65, last January inside the Petersen Events Center.

Hot Demons: After a 2-4 start, DePaul has rebounded to win eight of 10, including a 64-57 win over No. 5 Kansas back on Dec. 2. The Blue Demons have already dispatched Wake Forest (78-63), California (90-62) and Villanova (73-65) this season.

Not-So-Friendly Welcome: Pitt’s win over USF bumped the Panthers’ record to 6-1 against “new” Big East members Cincinnati (1-0), DePaul (1-0), Louisville (2-0), Marquette (1-1) and South Florida (1-0). DePaul and South Florida were the only newcomers not to qualify for the Big East Tournament in 2006.

Sharing the wealth: The Panthers recorded 18 assists on 26 baskets on Sunday, leaving them just below their average of 19.8 a game, a statistic that places them fifth nationally. Sophomore point guard Levance Fields, who has scored in double figures in each of the last seven games, leads the team with 80 assists thus far.

Getting Defensive: South Florida became the first Pitt opponent not to register 50 points on the Panthers this season, which is not a rarity for a defensive-minded program such as Pitt. The team still, however, yields 62.7 points per game, which is only good enough for sixth place in the program’s record books. Still, it is slightly better than the 63.1 average given up by last year’s team.

Historic Win: DePaul hit 10 3-pointers, getting five from preseason Big East first-teamer Sammy Mejia (16.1 points, 6.7 rebounds a night) to sink Villanova 73-65 on Saturday. The win was the first Blue Demon win in Philadelphia since 1976. – Geoff Dutelle