Big East Tournament: Pittsburgh Will Make Title Run with Backs Against Wall

Pitt finally found their Old Spice Swagger.

The Pittsburgh Panthers began the regular season ranked No. 11 in the nation. Today, Jamie Dixon’s crew entered the Big East tournament already in win-or-go-home mode. After the most disappointing campaign the program has had in years, Pitt will bounce back because for the first time in a long time, they must leave New York City kings of Madison Square Garden.

Senior forward Nasir Robinson told Phil Axelrod of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette that:

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This is really big for us. It's really important for us to get our first win in the tournament.  We've been coming up short the last couple years. This is a new season and we have a new attitude.

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What Robinson is referring to is the Panthers' dominance in the regular season, locking up the first or second seed in the Big East tournament each of the last three years and still not winning a single game. This time around, Pitt did pull off a victory by knocking out St. John’s in the first round 73-59. According to ESPN, after the game Dixon said:

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I think we've gotten better the last couple of weeks and it's a good sign as we go forward here. We've got to defend and I think we did that today and we'll continue to do that as we go forward tomorrow.

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Pitt held the Red Storm to just 33 percent shooting from the field and 18 percent from downtown. Defense has been the staple of Dixon’s best ball clubs and with the Panthers finally getting back to their bread and butter, they’ll be able to compete with the best of the Big East. However, it will take more than an increase in intensity and defensive hustle to be the last ones standing in the war that is this tournament.

That’s where Ashton Gibbs comes in. The streaky shooter took a step back this season only averaging 15.7 points per game, but against St. John’s he dropped 20, leading the Panthers to the W. If Gibbs continues to have the hot hand, Pittsburgh will play like the 11th- ranked team that the coaches believed that they’d be before the year began.

Pitt is a young team, but Gibbs, Robinson and Travon Woodall know how to win. And in desperation mode with their backs against the wall, Pitt is a squad that no one wants to face early in this tourney.

David Daniels is a featured columnist at Bleacher Report and a syndicated writer.

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