Panthers head into a sweet weekend

Only four more games to go.

The Pitt men’s basketball team is only four wins away from… Only four more games to go.

The Pitt men’s basketball team is only four wins away from winning a national championship, but first the Panthers will turn their focus to No. 3 seed Marquette.

Entering the Thursday night contest in Minneapolis, the Panthers are riding the nation’s second-longest winning streak at 11 games and have dismantled two teams by an average of 24 points thus far in the NCAA Tournament.

While the Panthers have enjoyed two blowout victories, the Golden Eagles have been pushed to the brink twice, first by Holy Cross and then by Missouri. Marquette has had to rely on its perimeter shooting to carry it into the round of 16 for the first time since 1994.

Sophomore guard Travis Diener has carried the Golden Eagles through the first two rounds with a total of 55 points, posting a Sweet Sixteen best scoring average of 27.5 points per game.

But lurking in the shadows of Diener is the Conference USA Player of the Year, Dwayne Wade. Wade hasn’t played well on both sides of the ball throughout the tourney as Marquette committed 21 turnovers and blew second half leads in both of their games.

For the Panthers, who are making their second consecutive Sweet Sixteen appearance, shutting down high-powered guard tandems has been the norm.

In six of their last seven games, the Panthers have held their opponents to less than 60 points, with the lone exception being the Wagner Seahawks who netted 61 against Pitt in the opening round game.

Pitt’s defense, which ranks fifth in the nation in field goal percentage defense and sixth in the nation in scoring defense, will need to stifle the tandem of Diener and Wade in order to advance to the Elite Eight for the first time in school history.

With a 10-1 nonconference record, the Panthers know how to adjust their game for the various conferences. Pitt also owns a 2-1 record all-time against Marquette, but has not played the Golden Eagles in 18 seasons.

The Panthers, wearing white jerseys for this game, will also look to raise their record to 20-0 this season when sporting the home jerseys.

The Golden Eagles present a challenge for Pitt, but it is nothing new as the Panthers have neutralized several great guard tandems already this season.

Pitt will need to shut down Diener and Wade, Marquette’s leading scorers. Junior guard Julius Page will most likely draw the task of shutting down Diener, with Jaron Brown or Brandin Knight taking responsibility for Wade.

Marquette has also enjoyed solid perimeter shooting thus far in the tourney, but the Golden Eagles have yet to face an opponent of Pitt’s defensive nature. The stifling Panther defense has left opponents shaking their heads in frustration.

If the Panthers can control the tempo of the game, outrebound the Golden Eagles and shut down the guard tandem of Diener and Wade, Pitt would head for a possible matchup with No. 1 seed Kentucky.

Should the Panthers advance, they would face the winner of the Wisconsin-Kentucky game on Saturday at 4:40 p.m. with a berth in the Final Four on the line.