POSTSEASON OUTLOOK
Pitt has lost three of its past six games, but the Panthers remain a strong contender to reach the Final Four. The Panthers have not reached the Final Four since 1941 and have only gone as far as the Elite Eight two other times in school history.

The three recent losses have come by a total of six points. A few disconcerting issues surfaced in each of those losses. In two of those three losses, the Panthers had second-half leads and failed to make winning plays to close games out. They also have had issues with rebounding and turnovers.

In the loss in the Big East quarterfinal round to Connecticut, the Panthers lost the rebounding battle, 32-25, and committed some bad turnovers that led to some easy transition baskets for the Huskies. In an overtime loss at Louisville, the Panthers committed 16 turnovers. And in a last-second loss to St. John's the Panthers committed 16 turnovers.

One of the disappointing things for coach Jamie Dixon has to be the circumstances under which his team is losing. The Panthers are a team built around rebounding and a low turnover margin. One positive Dixon can point to is the fact that the team is not playing up to its potential and still losing close games.

PLAYER NOTES

--Senior F Gilbert Brown became the 40th Panther to reach 1,000 career points, hitting a critical 3-point basket in the regular season finale against Villanova. It was his only basket in the game.

--Senior G Ashton Gibbs led the Big East in 3-point field goals at 3.2 per game and 3-point accuracy with .446 while tying with Villanova's Corey Stokes in free throw accuracy with .895.

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