Pitt gets 20

Jamie Dixon's Panthers won 20 games for the sixth consecutive season. Antonio Graves came up huge with 13 points including a clutch 3 pointer to help Pitt pull away in the final minutes. Aaron Gray had 14 points and 10 boards but he struggled to find his groove as Villanova ran a lot of plays to the outside to try and neutralize Pitt's big men. With their number 7 ranking in tow the Panthers aren't in competition till next Wednesday when they travel to Morgantown to play Dub V. In order to keep its top ten ranking Pitt must win games like this one when their big men are taken out of play. They need to be able to rely on Graves and Levance Fields to hit the outside shots and to control the perimeter on the other side of the ball. When LeVon Kendall and Gray are just reduced to rebounding because of perimeter shooting by their opponent, Fields and Graves must be able to put pressure on the outside shooters. With Gray struggling on offense Pitt must stay sharp shooting the threes. They are averaging at 40 percent from behind the arc which is best in the Big East but if they want to run with the likes of the Tar Heels, Gators and Badgers they must be able to bomb the three consistently. If they can do that, they are going to be very good in March.