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Pittsburgh welcomes Sister Jean, Collin Gillespie and more for March Madness

Kyle Saxon

Senior Staff Writer While none of the Division I programs from the Pittsburgh area will be participating in this year’s NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament, the City will still be majorly involved in the beloved madness of March.

For the fourth time in the past 10 years, and the sixth time since 1997, Pittsburgh will host first- and second-round tournament games at PPG Paints Arena. The City has a rather rich history of monumental upsets throughout its time as a host site, and there’s potential for more of them this year.

Pittsburgh will host an extremely enticing group of teams this weekend, ranging from storied, powerhouse basketball programs to midmajor teams that have pulled off historic upsets in previous NCAA Tournaments. Here is a preview of this weekend’s slate in the Steel City.

No. 7 Ohio State vs. No. 10 Loyola Chicago: Friday at 12:15 p.m.

Coming off a crushing loss to Penn State in this year’s Big Ten Tournament and a historic

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upset loss to No. 15 Oral Roberts in last year’s NCAA Tournament, Ohio State is in desperate need of a tournament win. Head coach Chris Holtmann’s team is currently dealing with several nagging injuries, but still features two-time All-Big Ten First Team junior forward E.J. Liddell, as well as one of the top first-year talents in the country in guard Malaki Branham.

On the other side, the Ramblers will look to continue the magic of the Cinderella runs from their previous two appearances, reaching the Final Four in 2018 and the Sweet 16 last year. While head coach Drew Valentine may be in his first year at the helm, star senior guard Lucas Williamson was a part of both of those teams and leads a talented roster with plenty of returners from last season.

While Ohio State may have more sheer talent, Loyola Chicago is one of the best collective defensive units in the country. Liddell is the star for the Buckeye offense, but Branham has proven to be the X-factor, as he possesses the best pure shot-creating ability on the roster. But he faces a nightmare matchup in Williamson,

the two-time Defensive Player of the Year in the Missouri Valley Conference.

Offensive woes will lead to another first round exit for Ohio State, and Sister Jean’s magic will prevail in what should be the best matchup of the weekend.

Prediction: Loyola Chicago 68, Ohio State 64 No. 2 Villanova vs. No. 15 Delaware: Friday at 2:45 p.m.

The next game features Pennsylvania’s own Villanova Wildcats, who arguably boast the best head coach and backcourt in the country.

The Wildcats will take on junior guard Jameer Nelson Jr. and the Delaware Blue Hens. Both of these teams enter this contest as winners of their respective conference tournaments.

Villanova is a popular pick to reach the Final Four — and deservingly so. The Wildcats feature senior guard and Big East Player of the Year Collin Gillespie, who joins junior guard Justin Moore to form one of the most feared guard pairings in the nation. Head coach Jay Wright has directed Villanova to two national

March 16, 2022

championships in the past five NCAA Tournaments and certainly has a chance at another this season.

While Delaware played very well in the CAA tournament, its stay in the NCAA Tournament will be quite brief. Villanova is a national title contender, and simply outmatches the Blue Hens in every aspect of this game. The Wildcats comfortably advance past Delaware and Loyola Chicago and reach the Sweet 16.

Prediction: Villanova 83, Delaware 58 No. 4 Illinois vs. No. 13 Chattanooga: Friday at 6:50 p.m.

While the Illini depend heavily upon junior center and national player of the year candidate Kofi Cockburn, they are far from one-dimensional. Illinois can also burn its opponents from outside with an extremely explosive group of guards in sophomore Andre Curbelo and seniors Trent Frazier and Alfonso Plummer.

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2

Cover by Pamela Smith and Hannah Wilson | The Pitt News Staff

Picks for the men’s basketball national championship

The Pitt News Staff

With the men’s NCAA basketball tournament set to begin in earnest on Thursday, The Pitt News sports desk predicts who will cut down the nets in New Orleans on April 4.

Villanova over Baylor // Dalton Coppola, Assistant Sports Editor Villanova will start its tournament in Pittsburgh but it will end in New Orleans. Graduate student guard Collin Gillespie’s versatility and leadership will prove to be the difference in Villanova’s run through the Big Dance. Head coach Jay Wright’s Hall of Fame resumé paired with Gillespie at the point of a Big East Champion will propel the Wildcats to another championship.

Write it with a sharpie — the Villanova Wildcats are going to go back to the National Championship as a No. 2 seed and will take down the Baylor Bears.

Arizona over Texas Tech // Alexander Ganias, Staff Writer There has been no clear best team this year, as anyone who got into the top 10 ended up losing a game they perhaps should’ve won. Arizona was that team on Feb. 26 when it lost a road game to unranked Colorado, but that isn’t going to stop the Wildcats.

Led by head coach Tommy Lloyd, the team from Tucson barreled through the PAC-12 tournament and clinched the championship game on the back of Jaime Jaquez Jr.’s 18 points and 10 rebounds against UCLA. This year’s tournament is up in the air, but Arizona looks to be the one to land on its feet in the end.

Loyola Chicago over Duke // Brian Sherry, Staff Writer There would be no better Cinderella story than Loyola Chicago taking down perennial-favorite Duke in a national championship thriller.

The matchup would feature two elder figureheads of the sport, Coach Mike Krzyzewski and Sister Jean, duking it out for the title. Both icons are more than likely in their last NCAA tournament appearance, making this matchup even more special.

Loyola Chicago will prevail in the end, providing hope to millions in uncertain times.

Duke over Tennessee // Stephen Thompson, Sports Editor There is immense pressure on Duke to take home a title in head coach Mike Krzyzewski’s

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final season. The 2021-22 season has been entirely underscored by his impending retirement, and after his Blue Devils flopped in the regular season finale against rival North Carolina and the ACC Tournament, the demands to close in victorious fashion are even louder.

Tennessee will be a worthy opponent — they’ll have to conquer one of the harder regions of the tournament to get to this point — but it’s Duke’s year, for the simple reason that it has to be. The Blue Devils cannot afford to lose and luckily for them, they’re as likely as anyone to win when it matters most. Duke boasts a pair of future NBA Lottery picks that bring an ounce of flair, the ACC Defender of the Year that brings the muscle and two veteran guards that run the show with efficiency. They play complementary basketball and are built for this moment.

Villanova over Kentucky // Richie Smiechowski, Senior Staff Writer Picking two blue bloods goes against everything that March Madness stands for, but in a season of unpredictability, two of the nation’s strongest will go head to head for the National Title.

For Kentucky, Oscar Tshiebwe is quite literally a tank. His physicality will be an asset for Kentucky as the games begin to wear on. It also feels like it might be due after a decade-long drought.

As for Villanova … well, it just always seems to show up in the tourney.

Kentucky over Arizona // Frankie Richetti, Senior Staff Writer Sixteen of the past 19 National Champions entered the tournament among the top six in KenPom’s rankings. Arizona and Kentucky are both in the top three.

Both teams rank top 10 in offensive efficiency, while Arizona boasts a better defense.

In a game that would feature two future lottery picks in Kentucky guard TyTy Washington and Arizona guard Ben Mathurin, Kentucky has the slight edge in the backcourt as they are getting healthy while Arizona point guard Kerr Kriisa’s status remains in doubt.

The X-factor for Kentucky is Davidson transfer, Kellan Grady. Grady shoots 42% from downtown and is one of the best shooters in the nation. While slumping coming into the tournament, I think Grady catches fire and will play a pivotal role in bringing the hardware back to Lexington.

Arizona over Baylor // Zack Gibney, Senior

Staff Writer Take Baylor's defeat in the Big 12 tournament with a grain of salt. It didn’t win its conference last season either, but it's safe to say it was fine settling for a national title. Scott Drew’s team will be ready.

But in a year where no team is a comfortable watch, Arizona is as close to a sure thing as anyone in the country.

Also, Arizona is hot at the right time. Of the Wildcats’ three losses, they avenged two of them — UCLA and Colorado — later in the season.

They cruised through a strong field in the PAC12 tournament, and while they got a tough draw with Villanova also in the South Region, Arizona picked up 31 wins against a tough schedule — something that should help it in March.

Arizona over Kentucky // Kyle Saxon, Senior Staff Writer There are plenty of reasons people will doubt Arizona’s national title hopes –– a first-year head coach, the uncertain availability of star sophomore point guard Kerr Kriisa,and recent Wildcat woes in the Big Dance. Rest assured –– the

March 16, 2022

product on the court leaves no reason for doubt.

Arizona’s size and versatility make it a matchup nightmare for any team, including Kentucky.

While John Calipari’s team has been extremely dangerous at full strength, there is simply no answer for Arizona when it is hot. PAC-12 player of the year Bennedict Mathurin will be the most outstanding player of this tournament, and Tommy Lloyd will win a national championship in year one.

Arizona over Texas Tech // Nick Aaron, Staff Writer Arizona looks the part of a national championship team after emerging on top in the PAC12 tournament. Texas Tech might surprise some people with such a deep run into the national championship game, as it didn’t even win the Big 12 conference title. But the Red Raider offense will pace it to get this far, and likely run into a wall against the Wildcats.

Arizona is playing its best basketball of the season, and hasn’t won a national title since 1997. The Wildcats are about due for their first championship of the 21st century.

3

Women’s basketball, White need to make strong starts sustainable

Richie Smiechowski Senior Staff Writer

Pitt women’s basketball faced a recurring theme throughout its 2022 campaign — an inability to finish — both their games and, ultimately, the season — with the momentum they started with.

A notable instance of their late-game woes came against former Big East foe Syracuse late in the season. The Panthers led for a commanding 35 minutes of the contest, clearly the stronger team from the tip. All signs pointed toward them breaking a series of undesirable streaks, including 21 consecutive losses to the Orange and six straight defeats in their annual Pink the Pete games.

Instead, the Orange ate the Panthers alive in the fourth quarter. Their sevenpoint lead eventually disappeared, and Syracuse took its first advantage since the opening minutes of the game with

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just one minute left on the clock.

With 10 seconds left and down just two points, the Panthers produced a miserable final possession, dribbling aimlessly before nearly airballing a contested shot as time expired. Syracuse led for all of three minutes in the game.

Like the game script against Syracuse, Pitt started off its season historically hot. It went 8-2 in their first 10 games of the year, giving the program its best start to a season since the 2009-10 campaign. Its only losses came in a tough battle against No. 23 Texas A&M and an overtime loss to now tournament-bound South Dakota.

For a program that has broken the .500 plateau just once in the past decade, it appeared things might finally be turning around under fourth-year head coach Lance White. The Panthers had already notched notable wins against power-five opponents Rutgers and

Northwestern before riding high into ACC play in December.

In their first conference matchup, the rest of the ACC quickly humbled the Panthers, losing at home to No. 2 NC State by 35 points. They followed the loss with a second conference defeat on the road to No. 21 Notre Dame, this time by 26 points.

After losing their first five ACC contests, the Panthers finally notched their first conference win with a 65-57 victory over Wake Forest. They would go on to win just one more game in conference, finishing last in the ACC with a 2-16 record in conference. A loss to the 5-22 Virginia Cavaliers punctuated their nine-game skid to end the regular season.

With one game left in the season, the Panthers had a chance to redeem something from their underwhelming season with a first-round matchup against the 17-13 Duke Blue Devils.

Again, the Panthers came out swinging. A hot offensive start and stellar defense saw the Panthers jump out to an 11-point lead at the end of the first quarter. They extended their lead to 16 early in the second and held a steady advantage for most of the first three quarters.

History repeated itself down the stretch for the Panthers, as they were never able to pull away and allowed Duke to cut the deficit to just one at the end of the third quarter.

The two teams went back and forth in the final period, but the Blue Devils ended up on top after junior guard Destiny Strother’s game-tying three attempts at the buzzer rang off the front iron. The 55-52 final score ended the Panthers’ season on a sour, yet all too familiar note, dropping them to 11-19 overall.

Amid the 10-game losing streak to end the year, the program dismissed senior guard Jayla Everett. The former transfer was leading the Panthers in both scoring and minutes prior to her dismissal. She was the only Panther to average double digits in points per game, scoring at a clip of 13.6 PPG for the year.

March 16, 2022

Despite all that went wrong for the Panthers in 2021-22, there are some clear bright spots on their roster. The first is that they will be returning an experienced lineup next year, losing only two seniors who didn’t see much time on the floor to begin with.

One of those returners is junior forward Amber Brown. She was the only Panther last season in the top three on the team in points, rebounds and assists, displaying her versatility as a player.

Junior guard Dayshanette Harris is the team’s leading scorer and playmaker, averaging 9.6 points and 2.9 assists per game.

Pitt will also return two major frontcourt pieces in sophomore forward Liatu King and junior center Rita Igbokwe.

The two lead the team in rebounding, and King found her stride down the stretch, compiling five consecutive games with double-digit points.

Along with their returners, the Panthers will add top-100 nationally ranked recruit Aislin Malcolm to their lineup for the 2022-23 season. The Pennsylvania native is a prolific scorer and ought to alleviate some of the Panthers’ lategame scoring troubles with her ability to shoot the basketball.

Next season may prove to be a makeor-break season for White. He has yet to produce a season above .500 and many have criticized him over his frequent substitutions. By constantly taking guards in and out of the game, they often seem to be out of rhythm, leading to costly turnovers and stifling them from being able to use the physicality of their frontcourt players.

After years of poor performance, the Panthers desperately needed to see some improvement this season, yet over and over they couldn’t capitalize on standout performances and early momentum.

White has compiled a 6-64 record in the ACC during his time as Pitt’s head coach. After four uninspiring seasons in a row, the Panthers will need to show at least some signs of improvement next season if he wants to stay with the team for the long run.

4

‘We have to win’: Pitt men’s basketball season in review Stephen Thompson Sports Editor

When Pitt men’s basketball beat Duke on Jan. 18, 2021, star forward Justin Champagnie declared that “Pitt is back.”

Two and a half seasons into head coach Jeff Capel’s rebuild, and his Panthers were finally yielding results on the court. They were 8-2 overall, 4-1 in conference play and talk of returning to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2016 filled the Pete. But in the 43 games that Pitt has played since, they’re 13-30.

As the 2022 men’s NCAA Tournament begins in earnest this week, the Panthers will once again watch it from home. Their postseason drought has spanned six years and two head coaches, with little hope that it will come to an end anytime soon. After completing his fourth losing season in as many years, Capel has his back against the wall.

When the Panthers lured him away in spring 2018 from the top assistant coaching job at Duke, Pitt charged Capel with rebuilding a program that he said had been gutted of talent and support. He said not many people knew how deep the disarray ran.

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“When I got here, it was a mess,” Capel said following an ACC Tournament loss to Boston College on March 8. “And I didn’t know how bad it was. I don’t think the people inside of the program knew how bad it was.”

Capel’s work has yielded some flashes of hope during his four years in Pittsburgh, but not nearly enough to satisfy a proud fan base or himself, the head coach said. He thinks the program has improved under his leadership, just not to the degree he had imagined.

“I think where we are today, from the first day I took over, is significantly better,” Capel said.

“Now, has it improved the way that I thought it would after four years? No. Absolutely not.

There’s no one more frustrated with that than me, and I take responsibility for it. But it’s certainly in a better place than when I first got here.”

While the Panthers are clearly better now than they were during the infamous 0-18 season of 2018, 2021 started with little promise and ended with even less. On the court, the reasons why this team finished 10 games under .500 are plain.

They closed 2022 standing 161st in adjusted defensive efficiency and 249th in adjusted offensive efficiency. They defended 3-pointers as poorly as anyone in America — 322nd in op-

ponent 3-point percentage — and didn’t fare much better when shooting triples themselves — 31.4%, good for 281st nationally. Their subpar turnover rates on both ends also did not crack the top-250 of Division I. Their game plan was abstract at times — “winning ugly,” as players and coaches called it. The strategy involved dragging opponents down into an ugly game with the hope that chaos would undermine whatever advantages in chemistry and talent they had.

It worked, to some degree. The Panthers looked capable of competing during short stretches, and wins over St. John’s, Florida State, North Carolina and others breathed life into a team desperate for it.

Sophomore center John Hugley was playing at an All-ACC level, and graduate forward Mouhamadou Gueye overcame a slow start with the elite defensive pedigree that made him an attractive transfer candidate materializing on top of a wide array of offensive skills. Senior guard Jamarius Burton began to hit clutch shots with regularity, and the team played cohesively.

There were reasons for hope, but like it has during every year of Capel’s tenure thus far, the optimism built slowly and painstakingly faded

March 16, 2022

with time.

Time after time, the program has underdelivered and time is running out for the current staff to live up to the aspirations that they set out for themselves. Capel-led Pitt teams are 10-33 in February and March, a damning indictment of how his teams have failed to follow through when it matters most.

Capel will return to coach the Panthers next season — that much is clear. Despite the subpar results, athletic director Heather Lyke said she has faith in Capel. She quashed rumors of his firing in a statement released late last Friday.

“We are committed to Jeff Capel as our head coach and leader of our team,” Lyke said. “I am confident Jeff will continue to assess and evaluate every aspect of our program and work tirelessly to continue building it the right way.”

But that was never really in doubt, given recent reports about the cost of buying out Capel’s contract. Pittsburgh Sports Now reported last month that buying out the remainder of his seven-year contract signed just 14 games into his tenure would have cost Pitt $15 million and Seth

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5

Staff Picks: Women’s basketball national championship The Pitt News Staff

As the women’s NCAA basketball tournament approaches, The Pitt News sports desk gives its predictions for who will be crowned as national champion. The first round will start Friday afternoon and conclude on April 3 with the National Championship game in Minneapolis.

Villanova over Texas // Dalton Coppola, Assistant Sports Editor This is the year the perennial powerhouses will fall in the women’s tournament — neither UConn nor South Carolina will be in the final.

Instead, Big East Tournament runner-up Villanova will make a Cinderella Story run through the bracket, with junior forward and Big East Player of the Year Maddy Siegrist leading the way.

The depth at head coach Denise Dillon’s disposal will prove to be the difference-maker, with first-year guards Kaitlyn Orihel and Lucy Olsen playing immediate roles. The Wildcats pull off one of the feel-good stories of the year, taking down Texas in the final.

South Carolina over UConn // Alexander Ganias, Staff Writer Unlike the men, women’s college basketball has had a clear No. 1 since the season started.

South Carolina has dominated its opponents from the beginning, including 11 wins against ranked foes. It has even defeated two of the other three no. 1 seeds in this tournament — NC State on Nov. 9 and Stanford on Dec. 21.

Head coach Dawn Staley, junior forward Aliyah Boston and the Gamecocks are on a mission after their heartbreaking defeat in the SEC Championship game. Six straight wins are almost a given with this South Carolina team.

South Carolina over NC State // Brian Sherry, Staff Writer Nobody is beating South Carolina this tournament. The Gamecocks have been dominant all season, only losing two games all year. They fell to Kentucky in the SEC championship, but will rebound quickly.

NC State has also been dominant all year. The Wolfpack plowed through ACC competition en route to a conference championship, but the Wolfpack won’t have enough talent to take down the Gamecocks and will lose in a nail-biter championship game.

UConn over Iowa // Richie Smiechowski, Senior Staff Writer While basketball is a team game, March Madness is where the nation’s stars come to shine, and

both UConn and Iowa have two of the sport’s brightest.

For UConn, sophomore guard Paige Bueckers has returned from injury. Beyond the physical capabilities, her star power and presence on the court will only add to the strength of a team that has won its last eight games by more than 20 points. Iowa, on the other hand, has the most prolific scorer in the country in sophomore guard Caitlin Clark. She’s bound to shoot the Hawkeyes to victory in their most important games.

South Carolina over UConn // Zack Gibney, Senior Staff Writer Recency bias is the only thing that is stopping South Carolina from being a near-unanimous pick to take home the national title.

Despite a shocking loss at the hands of 11-loss Kentucky in the SEC Championship game, South Carolina has been the best team in the nation all season long. Headlined by the scoring ability of Aliyah Boston, the Gamecocks haven’t lost a game by multiple possessions all season long.

That should continue in March.

South Carolina over UConn // Nick Aaron, Staff Writer Don’t read too much into South Carolina’s recent loss in the SEC Tournament finals — it’s still

the clear-cut best squad in the nation. The only team that should give the Gamecocks a run for their money is another perennial powerhouse — the UConn Huskies.

But expect the Gamecocks to topple the program that defined women’s college basketball in recent history and begin a dynasty of their own.

South Carolina over Louisiana State // Stephen Thompson, Sports Editor The Gamecocks play hard and do it with swagger. They fear no one and shouldn’t, because they are the best team in the country by far.

South Carolina is not just enormously talented, but tough as well. Led by their record-setting national Player of the Year candidate, junior forward Aliyah Boston, and fueled by the sting of a two-point loss to Kentucky in the SEC finals, South Carolina is ready to reclaim the women’s basketball throne, a seat it hasn’t held since 2017.

LSU — led by Kim Mulkey, a head coach with her own national title pedigree — is one of the few teams to have even come within inches of beating the Gamecocks this season, but Staley’s masterfully dominant Gamecocks will roll to their second national title ever by winning a tightly contested defensive battle in the championship game against the Tigers.

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6

Pitt fans, observers recall lackluster 2012 CBI Tournament run

Alexander Ganias Staff Writer

JD Schroeder — a current mechanical engineer — recalled his former position as a vice president of the Oakland Zoo in 2012. That year, Pitt men’s basketball defeated Washington State in game three of the College Basketball Invitational finals, a small prize compared to what the Panthers were predicted to accomplish.

Back in the late 2000s and early 2010s, Pitt basketball was competing for national championships. Fans came out in droves to pack the Petersen Events Center. But when the Panthers won the fifth-ever CBI Tournament in 2012, not many people were in the stadium to celebrate.

“If we couldn’t get people to come during the regular season, we were not getting people to come to some weird tournament that no one had ever heard of,” Schroeder said.

The season before, the Panthers — ranked as high as second in the national polls — won the Big East regular-season championship and earned a 1-seed in the NCAA tournament. But a certain UConn junior guard’s heart-stopping shot dashed their conference tournament hopes.

The Huskies eventually won the Big East Tournament.

UConn also won the national title, thanks in part to “Cardiac Kemba’s” incredible postseason run, but also because of Pitt’s collapse in the second round of the big dance. The Panthers took care of UNC Asheville in the first round, but couldn’t pull out a win against Brad Stevens and his eighth-seeded Butler squad. Pitt ended the 2010-11 season without a tournament title to their name.

Lifelong Pitt fan and current senior Alex Getchell remembered how close that team was to tasting the Final Four.

“I mean, we won the Big East regular season,” Getchell said. “But we didn’t finish the job, and it sucks because Pitt basketball used to be the best sport here.”

The 2011-12 Pitt men’s basketball squad entered the season as the No. 10 team in the nation.

But despite the high ranking, the Panthers lost some head-scratchers against Long Beach State and Wagner College. The loss to the Seahawks pre-empted a seven-game conference losing streak, which included a humiliating 62-39 loss to Rutgers. Schroeder described how the stadium got emptier after each loss during the losing streak.

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“Up until that point, tickets for a Pitt basketball game were extremely hard to get,” Schroeder said. “And just overnight, nobody came to the games. The bottom completely fell out.”

John Grupp, who covered the team for the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, remembered the press conferences for that team, and the difference between head coach Jamie Dixon and his players.

“Dixon was always positive,” Grupp said.

“He was the eternal optimist, but you could tell the kids were a little downtrodden. They couldn’t hide their disappointment.”

The season wasn’t all bad. Then-redshirt sophomore forward Lamar Patterson had a decent year, averaging 9.6 points and 3.6 assists per game as a regular starter. And he wasn’t the only player that performed well. Senior guard Ashton Gibbs also started every game and averaged 14.6 per contest on 38.2% shooting.

But those stats were irrelevant down the home stretch, as Pitt lost six of its last seven games in the regular season. Georgetown eliminated the Panthers in the second round of the Big

East Tournament, the final nail in the coffin for their national tournament hopes. Gibbs took the brunt of the blame, claiming that he wasn’t the leader that he should’ve been.

The Panthers failed to make the national tournament for the first time since 2001. But unlike that season, they failed to make the NIT as well.

“We thought they might sneak in,” Schroeder said. “And when the NIT announced that Pitt wasn’t invited, even the players were pissed.”

Pitt eventually accepted its spot in the CBI, but had to pay a $50,000 entry fee and $75,000 for the semis and championship rounds. Grupp explained that Dixon had his reasons for accepting that invitation, despite the cost.

“The only reason they went to that tournament was to give the seniors extra practice time,” Grupp said. “If Pitt had been starting three juniors, a freshman and a sophomore, they wouldn’t have gone.”

The first round took place on March 14, 2012, and the Panthers easily took care of Wofford, winning 81-63 in front of a sparse crowd.

The final attendance number for that match was

March 16, 2022

1,449 people, a mere 11% of the Pete’s capacity.

The attendance was a little better against Princeton in the next round, but not by much — 2,001.

It didn’t matter, as Pitt disposed of the Tigers 8261.

“The school spent upwards of $230,000 to be in the CBI,” Grupp said. “You had to pay a certain amount per round, and they didn’t make anywhere near that in ticket sales, so it became a pay-to-play type deal.”

Pitt’s next matchup was against a familiar face — Butler. This time, it exacted some revenge against the reigning national runner-up on their home floor in Indianapolis, defeating the Bulldogs 68-62 in overtime. Patterson dropped 13 points and snagged 10 rebounds, while redshirt junior guard Tray Woodall tallied 12 points.

“They beat us in the national tournament last year, so that was a fun storyline that people attached to this game,” Schroeder said. “And it was fun when we beat them.”

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Office Intern

Shadyside Property Management Com­ pany seeks person with minimum 2 years college to pro­ cess rental appli­cants, answer phones, and help staff our busy real estate of­fice.

Part time hours okay initially, but full time during the summer and through August, with some week­ ends required. $15/ hour. Perfect job for 4 bedroom apartment current sopho­mores for rent on Bates. & juniors, se­niors Available for rent planning to en­ter grad 2022‑2023 school school, re­turning grad year. Minutes from students, first‑year Pitt campus. For more law stu­dents, or any information or to of the above students schedule a show­ing, who are learning please call Mike at remotely!

412‑849‑8694.

Shadyside

Mozart Management 412‑682‑7000 thane@mozartrents.­ com

pittnews.com

March 16, 2022

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