DeJuan Blair made this possible, of course. After a quiet, four-rebound first half, Pitt's monster in the middle went off and hauled in 13 boards in the second half as the Panthers stormed back from an eight-point deficit to advance to the Elite Eight.But while it wouldn't and couldn't have happened without Blair, Levance Fields won this game in the final minute. There was the Bill Raftery "ONIONS!!" 3-pointer with a hand in his face that broke the tie with 50 seconds left. And then there was the steal-and-layup on the next possession that sealed it. That's a big-time player making big-time plays in a big-time game.
There are concerns here, of course, for anybody who has Pitt in the Final Four in their bracket. It's almost impossible to believe the way Xavier pushed the Panthers around in the paint in the first half. And for most of the second half, Xavier was able to clog up the middle on the defensive end and force Pitt to shoot mid- and long-range jumpers that they kept missing. As a result of this game, there's film on how to keep Blair and his buddies away from the basket.
But that same film shows Blair eventually getting in there when it mattered. And a result like this makes you think this year's Big East, the meat-grinder conference of all time, succeeded in making its tournament teams tough and nasty as opposed to wearing them out. The Big East has two teams in the Elite Eight already and still could get five. That's a good reason not to bet against Blair, Fields or anybody else who came out of that conference, no mattter how poorly they're playing or how far they're behind at the half.
Anybody who followed the Big East this year wants Pitt to play Villanova in the next round. The Wildcats know the Panthers, and can beat them, and it would be a filthy wrestling match of a game. If it's Duke, after watching this game tonight, I fear Pitt wins ugly and kind of easy.
That is, if they can do anything easy.
