Forget that Georgetown looks like an ordinary team at the moment. That the Hoyas lost their last game at home and scored just 52 points in the process. That they lost to Old Dominion earlier this season. That they have fallen out of the Top 25 after starting the season in the top 10.
None of that will matter tonight when Georgetown (11-4, 1-1 Big East Conference) plays No. 7 Pitt (15-2, 3-0) at the Petersen Events Center.
And here's why: Playing Georgetown is a lot like playing an intrasquad scrimmage for the Panthers. Georgetown coach John Thompson III is known for using the Princeton offense, but his team mirrors Pitt in many other ways.
Each team has a passion for defense, rebounding and unselfish play.
"They're similar to us in a lot of areas," Pitt coach Jamie Dixon said.
Just about everything Pitt does well Georgetown does, too.
Pitt and Georgetown are among the league leaders in field-goal percentage, field-goal percentage defense, rebounding margin, 3-point field-goal percentage and 3-point field-goal percentage defense.
Both give up fewer than 62 points per game.
Both have traditional centers that lead their teams in scoring.
Both teams have striking balance. Pitt has five players averaging between 8.3 and 14.9 points per game. Georgetown has six averaging between 7.5 and 11.7 per game.
Like Pitt, Georgetown has a veteran team with players who understand how their coach wants them to play.
"Their offense is one thing," Dixon said. "They're a great rebounding team, a great defensive team. Their offense is a small part in my mind of what they do. They do so many things well."
For the first two seasons they have gone head-to-head, Thompson has come away the victor against Dixon. In his first season at Georgetown in 2004, Thompson became just the second coach to beat Dixon at the Petersen Events Center, winning a hard-fought contest, 67-64, in the final minutes. Last season, Pitt went to Georgetown and led by as many as 15 points in the first half before losing, 61-58.
With those two close victories against Pitt, Thompson can boast of something no other Big East coach can. He is the only coach in the conference (other than first-year coaches this season) who has never lost a game to Dixon.
Thompson, along with Dixon, is one of the up-and-coming coaches in the country. Georgetown had fallen out of the Big East's upper echelon in the final years under former coach Craig Esherick, but Thompson is in the process of restoring the tradition his father built in the 1980s.
In two-plus seasons, Thompson has a 53-26 record and led the Hoyas to the NCAA tournament for the first time since 2001 last season.
Today is an important game for both teams. Georgetown, picked in the preseason to challenge Pitt for the Big East title, does not want to fall too far behind the Panthers in the conference standings, and the Panthers don't want to drop a game at home against a team they will visit later in the season.
Senior center Aaron Gray said the Panthers let Georgetown off the hook last season.
"We definitely feel like we let that game get away from us [last season]," Gray said. "We were up by [15] at one point. They did a great job of changing things up and really taking advantage. They have a lot of talent. We just have to make sure we don't get overconfident even if we do get a lead. It will be a tough game and a good matchup."
Gray scored 15 points in the first half of that game last season at Georgetown, but was shut out in the second. Georgetown changed the game plan at halftime. Thompson sat 7-foot-2 center Roy Hibbert for much of the second half and switched from man-to-man defense to a 2-3 zone that limited Gray's touches and forced Pitt's outside shooters to make shots.
The Panthers were 6 for 17 from 3-point range, with two of those coming in the final 30 seconds when the Panthers were attempting a furious comeback.
If Thompson employs a similar strategy tonight, he'll be taking a big gamble. Pitt leads the Big East in 3-point shooting percentage and has a bunch of players who can make outside shots.
"I hope I see man-to-man, but that's just on a personal level," Gray said. "We have so many weapons. I didn't score in double digits in four straight games, and we still won those games by 21 points [on average]. If you give us wide-open shots, we'll gladly take those."
Defensively, Dixon feels comfortable going against the Princeton offense. Pitt is coming off a 59-49 victory at DePaul, a team that uses many of the same types of plays in its offense. Georgetown has not scored more than 70 points in the past five games.
"What I do like is our principles are similar to what we had to do against DePaul in a lot of ways," Dixon said. "I think there will be a good carryover for this game. They do some of the same things off the dribble, the back cuts, not extending too far. Those are all things we've been working on."
Matchup: No. 7 Pitt (15-2, 3-0 Big East) vs. Georgetown (11-4,1-1), 9 p.m. today, Petersen Events Center.
TV, radio, Internet: ESPN, WWSW-FM (94.5), WBGG-AM (970), www.pittsburghpanthers.com.
Pitt: Coming off a 59-49 victory at DePaul. ... Has held past two opponents under 50 points and four of the past five under 54. ... Senior C Aaron Gray broke out of a four-game scoring slump against DePaul with 18 points. ... Senior G Antonio Graves leads the Big East in 3-point shooting. He has made 27 of 53 shots from behind the arc (50.9 percent).
Georgetown: Lost at home Monday to Villanova, 56-52. ... Every starter averages more than eight points per game. ... Led by C Roy Hibbert (11.7 ppg, 6.1 rpg), F Jeff Green (11.6 ppg, 6.2 rpg) and F Jon Wallace (11.3 ppg, 2.3 rpg).
Hidden stat: Georgetown's opponents have made just 29.4 percent of their 3-point attempts this season -- the third-best 3-point defense in the Big East.
First Published: January 13, 2007, 5:00 a.m.