The Pitt basketball team in the earlier years under coach Jamie Dixon used to have hard, physical practices that involved bodies bouncing off the floor, competitive drills without fouls being called, occasional fights between players and an overall tone of feistiness from start to finish.

Players would often say games were actually easy, almost a day off from the grind of those grueling, physical practices.

Naturally, those practice habits spilled over into the games and the Panthers were often known as one of the most physical and tough-minded teams in Division I. They often won games by winning a battle of attrition more than with their skill and talent.

But those days seemed long gone earlier this season when the Panthers were pushed around and easy to score on, resulting in three non-conference losses, the most in Dixon’s career.

But that has changed recently as the Panthers are playing harder, defending better and playing more physical. According to the players, they are practicing in a way that would make most of the former players proud.

“Practices have been intense, physical practices,” Michael Young said. “We have been real physical, we have played really hard for the entire practices. Coach has tried to get us to become more physical. This has been a good trend. Earlier in the year, I don’t think our practices were physical enough, not nearly as physical as they are now.

“We put the box-out drill back in and we have really gotten after it. We’ve been fouling and coaches aren’t calling fouls and it has been very good in terms of building our physicality and helping us build our own identity.”

Young said practices clearly have spilled over in the games and believes they have improved in defending and rebounding even though the numbers haven’t always reflected that.

This change has been a process in recent weeks and others outside the program have taken notice as well.

“I think that over the last couple of weeks, Jamie has done a great job of getting back to Pitt basketball with the toughness and the physicality that they have been known for,” Georgia Tech coach Brian Gregory said after a Panthers 70-65 victory a week ago. “It’s just a really good team that is really starting to play well.”

Dixon said he doesn’t think it is fair to question the effort and toughness earlier this season when comparing them now. He said it can be difficult for younger players to understand just how physical the game has become and this group has been a little slower to respond than others.

But he said they have definitely tried to create a more physical atmosphere and mentality at practice.

“I don’t know that playing hard was the issue, it is the physicality of it,” Dixon said. “We have to get from doing things 99 percent of the time to 100 percent of the time and I think there is a mentality that needs to develop. There has been emphasis on our physicality.

“I think once you get into league play it is going to become more physical and we have seen that clearly. You can tell guys over and over and stress it, but until you go through it and play it is a learning process. We continue to emphasize it but they have to accept it.”

Young said the catalyst to this greater sense of urgency was the home loss to Clemson in which the Panthers were outrebounded by 17 and looked physically overmatched.

He said that was not the kind of effort the Panthers want to repeat. He added that sometimes hitting rock-bottom, or getting close to it, provides a wake-up call.

“That [Clemson game] was definitely a turning point, it was a real eye-opener,” Young said. “When you get outrebounded by 17 … that was a hit to our pride because we prided ourselves on being physical and being rebounders.

“That was the point where our practices got more physical, we just really started getting after it. We did get outrebounded by Georgia Tech and Duke, but in those games we were more physical.

“There is definitely a correlation because the physicality of our practices is carrying over to the games.”

•NOTE — Freshman Cameron Johnson will have surgery on his shoulder according to Dixon. Johnson played in the first eight games but has been out with a shoulder injury since early December. Dixon said his shoulder has not responded to rest, treatment and physical therapy so the next step is surgery, which has yet to be scheduled. Johnson, a 6-foot-7 forward from Our Lady of the Sacred Heart, averaged 4.5 points and 1.1 rebounds in eight games.

Paul Zeise: pzeise@post-gazette.com and Twitter @paulzeise.

First Published: January 24, 2015, 5:00 a.m.