Seniors’ role key in tourney

Advancement by the Pitt men’s basketball team in the NCAA Tournament rests on the shoulders of… Advancement by the Pitt men’s basketball team in the NCAA Tournament rests on the shoulders of seniors Julius Page and Jaron Brown.

For the third year in a row, the Panthers enter the Sweet 16, although some were skeptical about how far this squad would make it through the season. Prior to the start of the basketball season, the Panthers were selected to finish fourth in the Big East Conference and were ranked No. 22 in the preseason poll. Pitt has exceeded expectations; it is currently ranked in the top 10 in the country and won the Big East Conference.

Page and Brown remain from the team that made back-to-back appearances in the Sweet 16 as former Pitt players Brandin Knight, Donatas Zavackas and Ontario Lett graduated. While Brown has been pretty consistent offensively this season, Page has struggled. But during his stretch of offensive woes, Page has played steady defensively.

An ankle injury has slowed Page this season, but he refuses to allow it to be an excuse. You have to admire a player who takes responsibility for his shortcomings rather than looking to make excuses.

In Friday night’s ugly victory over the Central Florida Golden Knights, Page scored 10 points and was two-for-12 shooting from the floor and scored. But Page hit a crucial three-pointer to put the Golden Knights away.

He appeared to build on that performance by scoring 12 points in Sunday’s contest with University of Wisconsin. Again he nailed crucial shots for the Panthers. Page has been hounded for the last month about losing confidence in his shooting and has insisted that he hasn’t.

I would have to agree with him. It’s not like he stopped shooting completely. Page was just missing his target. Sometimes badly, and other times just because of unlucky bounces.

During his last two games, Page has begun more aggressively opening up shot possibilities. He has been driving to the basket instead of just opting to shoot jumpers all the time. Against Central Florida, not many shots were falling for him, but I could see that if he continued to be aggressive that his shots would eventually fall and he converted more buckets against Wisconsin.

In a way, Brown has switched places with Page through the first two games of the tournament. He has not heavily contributed to Pitt’s scoring in the tournament, but has done the little things. Brown was zero-for-five shooting field goals on Friday night as he finished with just three points, but bounced back to connect on two of seven shots along with four critical free throws for a total of eight points on Sunday.

While Brown did not light up the scoreboard over the weekend, he contributed on the glass as he made a critical rebound that sent him to the foul line in the closing minutes of the Panthers’ win over Wisconsin.

He also drew the assignment of guarding Wisconsin guard Devin Harris for the second half of the game. Harris hit the Panthers up for 15 first-half points, and was guarded by Page for the majority of the half. Page played him tough, but a few of Harris’s baskets were not able to be contested due to both fast breaks and transition.

At 6 feet 4 inches, 229 pounds, Brown was able to use his 54-pound advantage over the 6-foot-3-inch Harris. Harris was able to hit two more three-pointers in the second half, but he only finished the game with 21 points after an explosive first half.

Brown and Page are showing the signs of being hungry for a National Title, but in order for that to happen, they both are going to have to consistently score through the rest of the tournament. Even though it does show true leadership that they are able to contribute in other facets of the game when they are not able to contribute on the scoreboard.

While Pitt’s other three starters, Chevon Troutman, Chris Taft and Carl Krauser, are important, seniors are supposed to step up at this time of the year and get the job done in order to ensure the success of their team. Hopefully Brown and Page are up to the challenge.

Kevin Nash is the assistant sports editor for the Pitt News.