Huskies up next

Pitt men’s basketball tests its six-game winning streak tonight as the Connecticut Huskies… Pitt men’s basketball tests its six-game winning streak tonight as the Connecticut Huskies come to the Petersen Events Center for a Big East conference showdown.

Tip-off is set for 7 p.m. The game can be seen live on ESPN2 with Dan Shulman (play-by-play) and Dick Vitale (color) providing commentary.

“You never want to feel too comfortable in the Big East,” Pitt head coach Jamie Dixon said. “We want to win our home games – we have to win our home games in the conference – so we know what we have to do.”

The Panthers (No. 6 AP/ESPN/USA Today Coaches’) defeated Georgetown 74-69 Saturday, continuing their undefeated start to Big East play. Pitt (16-2, 4-0) assisted 22 of its 28 baskets as the Panthers shot 60 percent from the field to trump the visiting Hoyas at the Petersen Events Center.

“Every game in the Big East is important,” Pitt forward Levon Kendall said. “It’s especially nice, though, to beat a team that you’ve known all along is going to be at the top of the standings for the whole season. We just have to bring the same toughness and confidence when we play Connecticut.”

The Huskies (13-3, 2-2) defeated the Panthers 80-76 in Storrs, Conn., in the only meeting between the two programs last year. Connecticut topped St. John’s 68-59 Saturday, its first road win of the season.

“It was a good win because we needed to get a win, obviously,” Connecticut head coach Jim Calhoun said. “It was the first one on the road for a very young team.”

Calhoun starts three freshmen and two sophomores, while three more newcomers play significant minutes off the bench along with two other sophomores. Only two of the sophomores participated in UConn’s toppling of Pitt last season.

“We’re not anywhere near as good as we could be at this point,” Calhoun said. “We are an entirely different Connecticut team this season.”

Sophomore Jeff Adrien leads the Huskies in scoring and rebounding, averaging 13 points and 9.5 rebounds per game. The 6-foot-7 forward, who earned Big East All-Rookie Team honors in 2006, has a reputation for his work ethic and nose for the ball.

Pitt’s junior wing Cook, standing at 6-foot-4, will matchup with Adrien, giving away three inches to Connecticut’s playmaker.

“[Adrien] is a tough, physical kid,” Dixon said. “We’re going to try to slow him down, which will be a tough test. He just keeps getting hungrier.”

Freshman center Hasheem Thabeet leads the Big East in blocks, averaging 4.5 swats per contest. Standing at 7-foot-3, the Tanzanian-born newcomer presents the second-consecutive game in which the opponent features a taller player than Pitt’s 7-foot center Aaron Gray.

“He has the length and shot-blocking ability,” Dixon said. “He’s got a good touch and good strength that keeps improving – we haven’t seen a shot-blocker like him this year.”

At the power forward position, Connecticut outs its frontcourt with 6-foot-9 freshman Stanley Robinson. Robinson notched 13 points and 12 rebounds in the Huskies’ win over St. John’s, compiling his first-ever double-double in a Connecticut uniform.

“They’re a great rebounding team,” Dixon said. “We know how good they are, and we know it will be a great matchup.”

Connecticut’s backcourt plots five guards against Pitt’s five main contributors from the perimeter positions. The Huskies start 6-2 A.J. Price and 6-3 Jerome Dyson while 6-1 Doug Wiggins, 6-3 Craig Austrie and 6-6 Marcus Johnson play significant minutes off the bench.

Price averages 11.6 points and 4.8 assists in 27 minutes. The sophomore replaced two-year starter Marcus Williams, currently a member of the NBA’s New Jersey Nets, after missing the previous two seasons.

In 2004, Price suffered brain hemorrhaging after an arteriovenous malformation (AVM) forced the New Yorker into radiosurgery treatment. One season later, Connecticut suspended Price for his involvement with Williams in a campus burglary.

“[Price] is really a freshman,” Calhoun said. “He is still learning as he goes.”

Dyson averages 12.5 points per game and ranks seventh in the Big East in steals, snatching two per contest. Wiggins (8.6) and Johnson (7.7) are fourth and fifth respectively among Connecticut’s scoring leaders, with both averaging about 20 minutes off the bench.

Pitt counters Connecticut’s guards with 6-foot-3 senior Antonio Graves, 5-foot-10 sophomore point guard Levance Fields and juniors Keith Benjamin and Ronald Ramon.

“Pitt has terrific guards,” Calhoun said. “We really are going to have to negate them and their production.”

Graves leads the Big East in 3-point shooting, toting a 50-percent clip from beyond the arc. Fields rates third in the conference in assists, handing out 5.1 per game.

Ramon leads the Panthers’ bench, averaging 8.4 points on 46-percent shooting from the field. Benjamin adds 4.4 points per game in 12 minutes.

“We just have so many guys that can step up and score for us,” Gray said. “That definitely helps us with our offense and confidence as a team.”

Pitt has yet to lose at the Petersen Events Center this season, winning all 11 of its matchups. In its last trip to Pitt in 2005, Connecticut trumped the Panthers, 73-64.

Tuesday’s meeting will be the 53rd time the programs have met, with Connecticut leading the all-time series, 29-23.