Pitt coach Jamie Dixon knows that a lot of people are talking about the NCAA tournament, but don’t count him as one of them.
He said there is far too much time left in the season to start worrying about where the Panthers fit in to the field of 68, especially since they can’t control anything about the process other than what they do on the court.
And that’s why he has the Panthers focused on trying to get as many wins as possible, because he knows that if they do, the process of them receiving an NCAA tournament bid on selection Sunday will take care of itself.
The Panthers (17-6, 6-5 ACC) can take a big step toward locking up a spot today when they play at Dean E. Smith Center in Chapel Hill, N.C., against No. 9 North Carolina (20-4, 9-2).
The Panthers have pretty solid Ratings Percentage Index (RPI) and strength-of-schedule numbers and have won enough games to put themselves into position to be an at-large selection, but they are 0-4 against ranked opponents and could use a big road win to solidify their place in the field.
Dixon said he doesn’t believe there is any more or less pressure to win this game just because the opponent is ranked, as he said the Panthers just need to focus on playing well.
He said the ACC is so tough, that every night is a battle and every road game is a grind and he knows that Pitt will have to play a great game to have a chance to upset the Tar Heels.
“They put up your best win and worst loss and the worst loss is on the same level as your best win,” Dixon said. “Every game factors in; you have to try to win every game — I know we get asked that question every time we play a ranked team, but we just have to win our share of games.
“You can’t win them all, there will be more than a handful of losses for every team, so all you can do is go out and play the best you can. Some games you play well, some games you don’t play so well, and in our league, you can play well and not come up with a win on the road.
“We will come out and battle and play, and we have to get 40 great minutes.”
If there is any consolation for the Panthers, it is that they have won their past two games against the Tar Heels and done so in impressive fashion.
Two of Pitt’s best performances since joining the ACC have come against North Carolina, and in both cases, the Panthers built huge leads early thanks to hot shooting and offensive rebounding.
Pitt beat North Carolina, 80-75, in the 2014 ACC tournament and the Panthers routed the Tar Heels a year ago at Petersen Events Center, 89-76. Dixon said rebounding was a huge factor in both wins and will be a big factor again today.
North Carolina has stumbled a little bit recently and has lost two of three games, but Dixon pointed out the Tar Heels have played three consecutive road games and winning on the road is tough.
Pitt also lost its most recent trip to Chapel Hill in February 2014, as the Tar Heels controlled the rebounding and won, 75-71.
“I loved how we fought in that game; we were down and fought back,” Dixon said. “That game came down to a couple of plays at the end, so we need to finish this one.”
Dixon said because rebounding is so important to the outcome of this game, the Panthers will have to make sure they don’t get outmuscled around under the basket.
“We have to go on the road, we have to get ready to play,” Dixon said. “How they are going to call the game early will have a big factor. Sometimes there are fouls that are called in one game early, but not in another game early, so you just play through it.
“We can’t get hurt on the glass, we know that. We can’t give up transition and we have to get some transition baskets ourselves. And of course, we have to defend better; we just have to get better defensively.”
Dixon unveiled a 3-2 zone Tuesday in a 65-63 loss to Miami and it worked well until the final play when Angel Rodriguez got an offensive rebound and tipped it in for the win.
That it worked, though, makes it a viable defense for the Panthers to use — along with the 2-3 zone and their man-to-man — and Dixon said it should give other teams something more for which to prepare.
Paul Zeise: pzeise@post-gazette.com and Twitter @PaulZeise.
First Published: February 14, 2016, 5:00 a.m.
