PITT BASKETBALL VILLANOVA • JANUARY 29, 2007 • WACHOVIA CENTER • PHILADELPHIA, PA. 2006-07 SCHEDULE Date Opponent W/L Time GAME N12 vs. Western Michigan (ESPN-U) W 86-67 #9 PITT (19-3, 7-1 Big East) N14 DELAWARE STATE W 67-50 N17 NORTHEASTERN W 78-52 at VILLANOVA (14-6, 3-4 Big East) N18 MASSACHUSETTS (FSN) W 85-68 23 N19 OAKLAND W 66-55 N24 FLORIDA STATE W 88-66 N29 ROBERT MORRIS (FSN) W 67-53 Monday, January 29, 2007 • 7 p.m. ET D3 at Auburn (CSS-TV) W 74-66 D6 DUQUESNE (FSN) W 73-56 Wachovia Center (20,056) • Philadelphia, Pa. D9 at Buffalo (FSN) W 70-67 D16 at Wisconsin (ESPN) L 89-75 D21 vs. Oklahoma State (ESPN2) L-2OT 95-89 Television: ESPN D23 DAYTON (FSN) W 84-54 (Sean McDonough, Bill Raftery and Jay Bilas; Producer: Bo Garrett). D30 FLORIDA A&M (FSN) W 77-51 Radio: Pitt Panthers Radio Network (Bill Hillgrove and Dick Groat), J4 at *Syracuse (ESPN) W 74-66 94.5-FM (WWSW), 970 AM (WBGG). Satellite Radio: Sirius Satellite Channel 123 (Pitt feed). J7 *USF (WTAE) W 69-48 Internet Broadcast: www.pittsburghpanthers.com J10 at *DePaul (ESPN2) W 59-49 The Coaches: Pitt: Jamie Dixon, 8th year at Pitt, 4th year as head coach (95-25); J13 *GEORGETOWN (ESPN) W 74-69 Villanova: Jay Wright, 6th year at Villanova (118-65), 11th year overall (240-150). J16 *CONNECTICUT (ESPN2) W 63-54 J21 *MARQUETTE (CBS) L-OT 77-74 Rankings: Pitt: 9-AP, 9-ESPN; Villanova: unranked. J24 at *Cincinnati (FSN) W 67-51 J27 *ST. JOHN’S (FSN) W 72-46 J29 at *Villanova (ESPN) 7 p.m. After winning nine of its last 10 games, 13th all-time 20-win season. Additionally, Pitt F7 at *West Virginia (FSN) 7:30 p.m. No. 9 Pitt (19-3, 7-1 Big East) continues its Head Coach Jamie Dixon (95 career wins) will F10 *PROVIDENCE (ESPN) 6 p.m. 25th season of Big East Conference competi- become the first head coach in school history F12 *LOUISVILLE (ESPN) 7 p.m. F17 WASHINGTON (ESPN) 2 p.m. tion on Monday when it travels to Philadel- to win 20 or more games in four consecutive F19 at *Seton Hall (FSN) 8 p.m. phia for a game against Villanova (14-6, 3-4 seasons. Last year he became the first head F24 at *Georgetown (CBS) 2 p.m. Big East) in a matchup at the Wachovia Events coach in school history to guide Pitt to three F27 *WEST VIRGINIA (ESPN-U) 7 p.m. Center at 7 p.m. ET. straight 20-win seasons. Dixon is also approach- M 3 at *Marquette (ESPN) 9 p.m. The game will be televised by ESPN as ing 100 career victories. part of its “Big Monday” package. Sean With its 7-1 league start, Pitt matches its M 7 at Big East Championship (ESPN) TBA McDonough (play-by-play), Bill Raftery and Jay best-ever start to a season in Big East Confer- M15 NCAA First & Second Rounds TBA Bilas will make the call. Bo Garrett will pro- ence play. The Panthers also began their Big M22 NCAA Regionals TBA duce. East season with a 7-1 record in 2003-04. A M31 NCAA Final Four TBA Pitt begins the second half of its Big East win vs. Villanova and 8-1 league record will regular season. With a win at Villanova, Pitt match Pitt’s best Big East regular season start All game times Eastern. All home games in after nine games (8-1 in 2003-04). Pitt’s five BOLD CAPS. Television games in parenthesis; will reach the 20-victory plateau for a school All game times are subject to change. %Big East record sixth consecutive season. Prior to the consecutive Big East wins from Jan. 4-16 rank Championship games; *Big East games. 2001-02 season, Pitt won 20 or more games in sixth among its longest Big East regular season For ticket Information: (800) 643-PITT. only two consecutive seasons. It would be Pitt’s win streaks. TODAY’S TOP STORYLINES PITT PANTHERS ROSTER NOTES • With a win Monday night, Pitt will reach the 20-win plateau for a school record sixth consecutive season. Prior to the 2001-02 # NAME POS HT WT CL PPG RPG CAREER/2006-07 NOTES season, Pitt won 20 or more games in only 0 Austin Wallace C 6-9 230 FR -- -- •Freshman from Bronx, N.Y. two consecutive seasons. It would be Pitt’s 1 Keith Benjamin G 6-2 190 JR 4.0 1.2 •71 career games 13th all-time 20-win season. • With a win vs. Villanova, Pitt Head Coach 2 Levance Fields G 5-10 195 SO 9.2 3.3 •Career-high six 3FG made, 18 points vs. Jamie Dixon will become the first head Cincinnati; 4.9 assists per game coach in school history to win 20 or more 4 Ronald Ramon G 6-1 180 JR 9.4 1.9 •Last 5 GP: 65.0%(13-20) on 3FG, 13.0 ppg. games in four consecutive seasons. • With its 7-1 league record, Pitt matches its 5 Tyrell Biggs F 6-8 245 SO 3.8 2.2 •Four double figure scoring games best-ever start to a Big East regular season. 11 Gilbert Brown G/F 6-6 190 FR 0.7 0.7 •Saw action in 3 games (FSU, DU, UD) Pitt also began with a 7-1 Big East record in 2003-04. A win vs. Villanova will give Pitt 14 Levon Kendall F 6-10 225 SR* 5.5 5.5 •Team’s second leading rebounder an 8-1 record for the second time in school 21 Doyle Hudson F/C 6-8 230 SR 1.1 0.7 •23 career games played, 4 min. vs. SJU history. 22 Antonio Graves G 6-3 190 SR 10.2 2.2 •Scored double figures in 12 games • Pitt has won three straight road games. • Pitt leads the nation in assist:turnover ratio 23 Sam Young F 6-6 215 SO 5.2 2.4 •Scored 10 points vs. SJU on Sat. with a 1.61 mark. 31 Mike Cook G/F 6-4 220 JR* 11.2 3.2 •Season-high 18 points vs. Georgetown • Pitt has limited seven of eight Big East 33 Aaron Gray C 7-0 270 SR 14.7 10.2 •10 double-doubles on season; opponents, nine of its last 10 opponents and 19 of its 22 total opponents under 70 13 points, 10 reb. vs. St. John’s points. Under Jamie Dixon, Pitt has held 35 Geoff Rizk G 6-0 185 FR 0.3 0.0 •Walk-on from Franklin Lakes, N.J. opponents to 70 points or less in 100 of 40 Maurice Polen F 6-5 245 SO 0.5 0.9 •Walk-on from Philadelphia, Pa. his 120 career games. PITT BASKETBALL • GAME NOTES 2 SERIES HISTORY NATIONAL POLLS (as of January 22, 2007) VILLANOVA-PITT SE- RIES ASSOCIATED PRESS POLL USA TODAY/ESPN COACHES POLL Total Games: 64. Rk. School (1st Place) W-L Pts. Rk. School (1st Place) W-L Pts. Series Record: 25-29. 1. Florida (42) 17-2 1,759 1. Florida (23) 17-2 763 Hosted by Pitt: 17-6. 2. Wisconsin (22) 19-1 1,720 2. UCLA (6) 17-1 739 Petersen Events Center: 1-0. 3. UCLA (6) 17-1 1,679 3. Wisconsin (2) 19-1 714 Hosted by Villanova: 5-15. 4. North Carolina (2) 17-2 1,597 4. North Carolina 17-2 691 Neutral: 3-8. 5. Ohio State 16-3 1,470 5. Ohio State 16-3 632 6. Texas A&M 16-2 1,438 6. Texas A&M 16-2 620 Overtime: 4 (1-3). 7. Oregon 18-1 1,387 One-Point Games: 4 (3-1). 7. Oregon 18-1 580 8. Kansas 16-3 1,248 8. Kansas 16-3 531 Two-Point Games: 6 (2-2). 9. PITT 17-3 1,203 9. PITT 17-3 522 Most Point Scored-Pitt: 97 10. Duke 16-3 1,091 10. Duke 16-3 416 (97-81 win on 2/18/78). 11. Memphis 15-3 954 11. Butler 17-2 407 Most Points Scored-VU: 96 12. Alabama 15-3 937 12. Alabama 15-3 397 (96-93 loss on 3/4/98). 13. Oklahoma State 16-3 867 13. Air Force 18-2 395 Largest Victory Margin-Pitt: 14. Butler 17-2 856 14. Memphis 15-3 360 15. Marquette 17-4 726 15. Nevada 17-2 332 23 (85-62 win on 3/2/ 16. Air Force 18-2 676 85). 16. Oklahoma State 16-3 301 17. Arizona 13-5 545 17. Clemson 18-2 295 Largest Victory Margin-VU: 18. Nevada 17-2 534 18. Washington State 16-3 281 33 (88-55 loss on 2/3/ 19. Clemson 18-2 507 19. Arizona 13-5 224 96). 20. Washington State 16-3 418 20. Marquette 17-4 185 Longest Win Streak-Pitt: 5 21. LSU 13-5 392 21. Notre Dame 16-3 163 (2/7/86-2/13/88). 22. Notre Dame 16-3 304 22. LSU 13-5 90 Longest Win Streak-VU: 5 23. Indiana 14-4 210 23. Virginia Tech 14-5 71 24. Virginia Tech 14-5 177 24. Indiana 14-4 70 (2/19/94-2/17/96). 25. Southern Cal 15-5 149 Last 10 Games: 5-5.