Pitt stays proud

Pitt junior forward Jamel Artis rarely lacks confidence, on or off the court.

His pride was glaringly apparent following the Panthers’ beatdown of No. 15 Duke University Sunday, in his postgame press conference.

“Duke is a good team, but we’re a better team,” Artis said. “We showed it tonight.”

Despite a disappointing loss to University of Louisville Wednesday, the entire Panther squad appears to share Artis’ mindset. As the season draws to a close, Pitt is revelling in its success — casting only brief glances at some unfortunate moments in its recent history.

In a PittLiveWire video, Panther head coach Jamie Dixon said his team is playing the best basketball of the year.

“I don’t know if anyone is playing better than us right now,” Dixon told his team. “We let one get away, but we’re on the run, people.”

While that might be a bit hyperbolic, the Panthers appear to have, for the time being, a firm slot in the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament with two regular season games left to play. Thanks to an surge in energy, they’ve won three out of the past four games.

In Pitt’s past three wins over Wake Forest University, Syracuse University and Duke, the Panthers outrebounded opponents by a whopping margin of 140 to 78, and even beat Louisville on the boards 34-28.

Against Syracuse and the Blue Devils, the Panthers also held their opponents to under 40 percent from the field.

Along with maintaining high rebounding numbers, defense is precisely how Dixon wants his team to succeed.

“We [won] with defense and rebounding, and that’s where we want to be,” Dixon said. “When the shots are going, we’re hard to beat.”

Even Duke guard Matt Jones noted the Panthers’ enthusiasm after his team’s loss.

“They hit their shots, and they were hungry, especially on the glass,” Jones said. “So we just tried to match their intensity throughout the game, but we just couldn’t.”

Staying hungry will be the key to a postseason run for the Panthers and they know it. Artis said he was particularly proud that his team came out firing — not wallowing — after a devastating defeat.

“All 16 guys who come in, we practice strong every day,” Artis said. “We come in and we know what we have to do. We sit down and watch film and we pay attention to detail. Like [the Duke game], we came in and we knew what we had to do.”

The win over Duke provided Pitt with its first victory over a ranked team this season.

While a tournament berth seems likely, as the team reached the 20-win plateau for the 12th time in 13 seasons, wins at Virginia Tech and Georgia Tech would certainly pad the Panthers’ resumé.

Senior point guard James Robinson, finishing his last year as a Panther, said the team’s momentum is only just beginning.

“This was our last home game, but I think we have a lot of the season left in us,” Robinson said. “We’re going to continue building on today’s performance,”

Despite Dixon’s acknowledgement that his team is playing its best basketball right now, he isn’t entirely sure why it took the team so long to click.

“If I knew that, I’d probably have slept easier in November,” Dixon said.