In Saturday’s game against Villanova University, senior guards Jaron Brown, Julius Page, and… In Saturday’s game against Villanova University, senior guards Jaron Brown, Julius Page, and center Toree Morris will play their last game as members of the Pitt men’s basketball team at the Petersen Events Center.

While the players believe that the day will be emotional, the ceremony that accompanies “Senior Day” will be one of the last things on these players’ minds.

“To me, it’s just another game,” Brown said. “I have to move on. I’ll be sad that I’m leaving here because it’s been a great place to play, but it’s just my time to leave now.”

“It’s my last time playing here and I want to leave with a bang,” Page added. “Obviously, we have to win the game. If we were to lose the game, I probably wouldn’t stay out there for the ceremony [after the game].”

However, before the ceremony occurs, the Panthers (26-3 overall, 12-3 Big East) will play a tough Villanova team with the Big East regular season title and the No. 1 seed in next week’s Big East Tournament in New York at stake.

“[Villanova is] a very good team,” Pitt basketball head coach Jamie Dixon said. “[They have] very good guards. [Curtis] Sumpter is also a tough match-up for the right hand players. And [they have] very explosive guards with [Allan] Ray, [Randy] Foye, and [Mike] Nardi.”

Ray, (17.9 points per game), Sumpter (15.4 ppg), Foye (13.2 ppg), and Nardi (10.5 ppg) each average more than 10 points per game for the Wildcats, making them eerily similar to Pitt’s lineup of double-digit scorers. Sophomore guard Carl Krauser (15.5 ppg), Brown (12.1 ppg), Page (11.9 ppg), and freshman center Chris Taft (11.2 ppg) regularly score in double digits for the Panthers. Also, Sumpter averages more than seven rebounds per game for Villanova.

“[Ray’s] gotten better and better,” Dixon said. “He’s really improved his outside shooting since high school. He’s really improved his range. He’s a tough kid and he’s been well coached and he played at a very good high school program.”

Recently Villanova has struggled, as it has won only one of its last five games. In their last loss to Miami, the Wildcats didn’t score a field goal in the last 6:18 of the game. Despite the scoring drought, Ray recorded a career-high seven three-pointers and finished with a game-high of 27 points.

However, none of that may matter as Brown, Page and Morris will look to add a victory in their final home game to their four-year record. Over the past four years, the class of 2004 has compiled a record of 102-28, making them the winningest senior class in Pitt basketball history.

Brown, Page, and Morris have been the cornerstones of the transformation of a basketball program that was struggling when they arrived and now is a national powerhouse regularly mentioned in the same sentence as Duke, Stanford and Kentucky. Brown, Page and Morris are proud of their achievements and hope what they have created can be sustained by those they leave behind.

“It was fun,” Morris said. “It just was fun coming to a program and helping it and just watching it grow into something good. It’s just been fun.”

This weekend’s game will be televised on ABC Sports on Saturday, and tip-off scheduled for 1:30 p.m.