Pitt’s path set at Big East tournament

Saturday, 09 March 2013 18:54

Written by Ray Fittipaldo

Pitt beat DePaul, 81-66, this afternoon and finished the regular season with a 12-6 record. The Panthers finished alone in fourth place in the conference standings and will not play until 2 p.m. Thursday in the quarterfinal round of the Big East tournament.

Pitt will play Syracuse, Seton Hall or South Florida. Syracuse is the No. 5 seed and will play the winner of the Seton Hall-South Florida game on Wednesday.

Pitt is 3-0 against Syracuse, Seton Hall and South Florida this season. The Panthers beat Syracuse, 65-55. They beat Seton Hall, 56-46, and South Florida, 64-44. All three games were at the Petersen Events Center.

This is the fourth time Pitt is getting a double bye to the quarterfinals. On the other three occasions, in 2009, 2010 and 2011, the Panthers lost their first game.

As of now, Pitt is scheduled to fly to New York Monday afternoon. Pitt coach Jamie Dixon said after the game that he was not sure if the flight could be changed.

If the travel itinerary is not changed, the Panthers will practice Tuesday and Wednesday in New York.

Dixon said he will give the players a day off tomorrow.

Senior guard Tray Woodall, who was on all three teams that lost with the double bye, does not believe the team will approach the week any different than years past.

“We’ll keep everything the same,” Woodall said. “We have to keep the same approach. We want to stay consistent in what we do practice-wise in our preparation. Hopefully, the outcome is different.”

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