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 Pitt learned its opening opponent after UNC-Asheville defeated Arkansas-Little Rock, 81-77, in overtime in a play-in game at Dayton, Ohio, tonight. No. 16 seed UNC-Asheville (20-13) trailed by as many as 11 points in the first half but the Big South champion forced overtime with a 3-pointer from top scorer Matt Dickey and held UALR [...]

No. 4 Pitt (27-5) equaled its best-ever ranking in a final Associated Press Top 25 poll, released on Monday. The Panthers also were ranked fourth in the 2003 and 2009 final AP polls. Pitt’s only other top-10 rankings in the final poll were 2004 (ninth), 2002 (ninth) and 1988 (eighth). The Panthers also are fourth [...]

        Pitt received a No. 1 seed in the Southeast Region, as the 2011 NCAA Tournament field was released tonight. The Panthers (27-5) will play the winner of the play-in game between Sun Belt champion Arkansas-Little Rock (19-16)-UNC-Asheville (19-13) in the first round on Thursday at the Verizon Center in Washington, D.C. [...]

So, with the brackets 20 hours away, is Pitt safe at No. 1 seed? Yes. A check of 85 different mock brackets, 75 of the 85 have the Panthers on the top line. Duke seems to be the only possible culprit. Nolan Smith is back, and the Duke-UNC winner is the only team with chance of keeping Pitt from its second No. [...]

    Pitt loses in the Big East quarterfinals for the third year in a row, this time Uconn guard Kemba Walker hit a buzzer-beater for a 70-69 Huskie win.   http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/news/s_726805.html?_s_icmp=NetworkHeadlines

NEW YORK — Top-seeded Pitt learned its opening opponent in the Big East Tournament, as No. 9 Connecticut topped No. 8 Georgetown, 79-62, in a second-round game at Madison Square Garden this afternoon. The Panthers (27-4) will play Connecticut (23-9) in the quarterfinals at noon on Thursday. Kemba Walker scored 28 points to lead the Huskies, who had [...]

Senior guard Brad Wanamaker won the Big East Sportsmanship Award on Monday, one day after being named second-team all-Big East. The 6-foot-4 Wanamaker is the second Pitt player to win the award in the past four years. Ronald Ramon shared the honor in 2007-08. In other Big East awards announced on Monday, Syracuse senior forward [...]

Pitt guards Ashton Gibbs and Brad Wanamaker each received all-Big East honors when the conference post-season awards were announced today. Gibbs, a 6-foot-2 junior from Scotch Plains, N.J., was named to the All-Big East six-man first-team, while Wanamaker, a 6-4 senior from Philadelphia, garnered second-team honors. Gibbs, an all-Big East second-team pick last season, averaged [...]

Here is the  Big East championship schedule  beginning Tuesday at Madison Square Garden Tuesday, March 8 – First Round No. 9 Connecticut (21-9) vs. No. 16 DePaul (7-23), Noon, ESPN2 No. 12 Seton Hall (13-17) vs. No. 13 Rutgers (14-16), 2 p.m., ESPN2 No. 10 Villanova (21-10) vs. No. 15 USF (9-22), 7 p.m., ESPN-U [...]

The Panthers claimed the No. 1 seed for next week’s Big East Tournament with their 60-50 victory over visiting Villanova today.