As the NCAA tournament begins for the Pitt Panthers against the Colorado Buffaloes, a major question perennially asked in March remains — Can Jamie Dixon lead his team deep into the NCAA’s and finally reach the Final Four? Despite a 283-93 record at Pitt, Dixon has yet to lead the Panthers to that elusive goal.
Last season ended with another disappointing loss in the Panthers first game in an 8-9 match up versus Wichita State, who would eventually make it to the Final Four, a common trend of opponents Pitt draws in the NCAA’s. In fact, three different times since 2009, the Panthers have faced teams who played in the Final Four. It’s hasn’t exactly been an easy draw.
This time around, Pitt will once again compete in an 8-9 game, Thursday at the Amway Center in Orlando, Florida. They’ll face a Colorado squad with an almost certain third-round contest against the top seeded Florida Gators the reward for winning.
Another NCAA tournament, enough exceptionally tough draw for the Panthers.
No: 8 seed Colorado can be the first higher seed Dixon’s Panthers have defeated during his tenure. The Buffaloes are led by sophomore forward Josh Scott (14.1 ppg, 8.5 rpg) and junior point guard Askia Booker (14 ppg, 3.5 apg) who have attempted to step up after the loss of star guard Spencer Dinwiddie to an ACL injury in January. Dinwiddie, who was one of the top players in the Pac-12, has been a difficult player to replace, as the Buffaloes have gone 9-8 since he was lost for the season.
The Buffaloes have two top 25 wins to their credit, against Kansas and Oregon. However, these wins were with Dinwiddie still playing. If there is a strength on this team, it’s their ability to rebound the basketball. The Buffaloes rank in the top 50 in the nation in rebounding, and this will match well against one of the Panthers strengths.
Scott and Booker are clearly the two key players for Colorado, but they are also have forward Xavier Johnson chipping in with over 12 points a game. The Buffaloes are not a especially strong offensive team, and they have struggled for consistent scoring in Pac-12 games, especially since Dinwiddie was lost. Booker is more than capable of taking over games if he gets hot, and the Panthers have struggled at times with creative guards who can score in bunches.
Both Scott and Booker shoot over 80 percent for the free throw line, and they get there often. It will be critical for the Panthers to play tough team defense and maybe even consider going to the 2-3 zone, something Dixon has implemented much more often this season than in the past.
For the Panthers, the key will be getting strong games from Lamar Patterson and Talib Zanna. For Patterson, this is the time to show why he was among the top players in the ACC this season, and the Panthers will certainly rely on him for scoring. Zanna playing the way he did in the ACC tournament would go a long way towards the Panthers advancing. Another tough double-double type of performance would give the Panthers a major boost.
The match up at point guard between Booker and James Robinson will be another one to watch. Robinson, who is among the leaders in assist to turnover ratio in the NCAA, will have to control the tempo of the game, and help defend Booker. A wild card in this game could be rising freshman Josh Newkirk. Newkirk has shown a nice ability to add some scoring punch and explosiveness at guard. It be great to see he and Robinson playing some minutes together.
Tip off is set for 1:40 p.m. Thursday.
