While the NCAA Tournament and NBA regular season have been dominating headlines throughout March and into April, there was plenty more going on in the world of basketball that went under the radar of the average sports fan — including the inaugural 3X3U National Championship.

Through the highs and lows of the Pitt men’s basketball season, one important thing was evident in the end — progress.

A historic shooting performance from senior guard Jared Wilson-Frame wasn’t enough to contend with the Orange’s suffocating length and the young Panthers were sent packing.

Pitt Basketball is already week of last year’s team in terms of wins. The Panthers won their fourth game, a 97-71 win over the University of Central Arkansas, on Nov., 15. Last year, the Panthers didn’t win their fourth game until Dec. 1.

From the high scoring offense to the smothering defense, Pitt Men’s Basketball once again showed its not the same team as last year when it beat Troy 84-75 on Monday. You can read the full recap of last night’s game here.

Malik Ellison doesn’t count last Thursday’s exhibition game as his first real game, he’s looking forward to tomorrow. It may have been over a year since he last stepped on the court to play in a regular season game, but the captain isn’t nervous, in fact, he’s more confident than ever.

The Pitt men’s basketball team kicked off its season in dominant fashion Thursday night, beating the branch-campus Pitt-Johnstown Mountain Cats 78-59 in an exhibition opener at the Petersen Events Center.

It took the Panthers more than 10 minutes into the second half to score a field goal, a disastrous drought that was too much to overcome as Pitt men’s basketball dropped its season opener to Navy. Pitt...