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NCAA Basketball

Pitt's Frontcourt Tames Huskies

Posted Feb 16, 2009 9:54PM By Chas Rich (RSS feed)

Filed Under: Connecticut, Pittsburgh, Big East

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Coming into the Pitt-UConn game, the main event was Pitt's DeJuan Blair against UConn's Hasheem Thabeet -- the rebounding machine against the blocking bully. After the game, ESPN's Jay Bilas put it this way: "If this were a fight, they would have called it early." Blair took it right at Thabeet the entire time and led Pitt to a 76-68 win in Hartford.

Hasheem Thabeet was held to only five points, four rebounds and just two blocks. Overwhelmed by Blair, Thabeet fouled out in the final minutes and was limited to only 23 minutes. Blair, on the other hand, finished with 22 points and 23 rebounds. It was Blair's second 20-20 game of the season. The Pitt frontcourt duo of Blair and Sam Young dominated UConn with a combined 47 points on 18-of-30 shooting.

UConn's frontcourt had no answer for Pitt. The tone was set early when Blair snagged a rebound and Thabeet went over Blair's back trying to get it. Blair had both hands on the ball, Thabeet's arm got pinned, and when Blair yanked, he flipped the 7-foot-3 Thabeet right over his back.

The Panthers outrebounded the Huskies 43-30. Pitt had no fear of going into the paint against UConn. Even with UConn getting plenty of blocks, Pitt kept going inside and attacking. UConn seemed ill-prepared for a team that wasn't scared to go inside.

What kept UConn in the game was their guard play. A.J. Price and Kemba Walker combined for 31 points, and even got the Huskies a lead late in the game. The Huskies guards were faster and able to penetrate and score. They also shut down Pitt's guards for most of the game.

Late in the game, though, it became clear that the UConn guards were getting tired. Losing Jerome Dyson took a toll on UConn's backcourt depth and they were having trouble getting through screens. That freed up Jermaine Dixon and then Levance Fields twice to drain big 3's to give Pitt a lead they never relinquished.

It was a huge win for Pitt, as it was the first time in four tries the Panthers have beaten UConn when the Huskies were ranked No. 1. It was also the first time Pitt has ever beaten a top-ranked team in 14 tries. The season-ending rematch should be fantastic.

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