By From the Archives

Published: March 19, 2009

BY BRIAN T. SMITH
BRISTOL HERALD COURIER
DAYTON, Ohio – East Tennessee State University men’s basketball coach Murry Bartow said Thursday his team is composed of fighters.
The Buccaneers are in for the fight of their life.
A No. 16 seed has never knocked off a No. 1 seed in the history of the NCAA Tournament.
Never. Ever.
Top seeds hold a 98-0 record over bottom seeds in The Dance, following Thursday’s first-round action.
The Bucs are a No. 16 seed in the East Region. The Pittsburgh Panthers are a No. 1 seed.
Strike one.
East Tennessee State is unranked in the national polls and has not come close to cracking the top 25 all season. Pittsburgh holds down the No. 4 spot in the country in the Associated Press and ESPN/USA Today polls.
Strike two.
And the Big East-derived Panthers possess an imposing, intimidating big three of senior forward Sam Young (18.7 points, 6.1 rebounds), senior guard Levance Fields (10.7 points, 7.6 assists) and sophomore center DeJuan Blair (15.6 points, 12.2 rebounds).
Strike – not so fast.
Bartow and the Bucs say they have hope, despite the odds and the pressure, the history and the doubters. And they also have the fortitude to back it.
ETSU (23-10) faces Pittsburgh (28-4) at 2:55 p.m. today at the University of Dayton Arena in Dayton, Ohio. The game will be televised in a national CBS broadcast and will be carried locally by Channel 11.
Bartow said he expects a serious fight from the blue and gold. And he pointed toward the anytime-anywhere attitude of East Tennessee State senior forward Kevin Tiggs as proof that the Bucs are ready for the battle.
“I’ve got some confident kids, some tough kids, some kids that compete very hard,” Bartow said. “So, we’re not going to back away from the game. I can tell you that. We’ll just come out and compete hard and play hard and just what happens.”
What ETSU hopes will happen is a monumental upset, the kind that has never occurred in the NCAA Tournament.
It won’t be easy. Pittsburgh held down the No. 1 ranking in the country for three weeks this season. And the Panthers rank second in the nation in rebounding margin (9.9) and assist-to-turnover ratio (1.5) – statistical categories coaches and analysts often examine when determining a team’s overall strength.
Pittsburgh coach Jamie Dixon said his squad is not looking ahead and has not given in to the distractions that accompany a No. 1 seed.
“I’ve been very happy with our preparation and our focus since we found out we were playing East Tennessee State,” Dixon said. “We … watched plenty of film on them and know how good they are.”
Bucs senior guard Courtney Pigram (17.6 points, 4.2 assists, 3.4 rebounds) said ETSU had not watched tape of the Panthers heading into Friday’s afternoon shootaround. But Pigram wasn’t concerned – the Buccaneers are worrying about themselves right now, he said. And Pigram stated he’s learned how to treat big games: like they’re not big games.
“We all have been playing the game for a long time,” Pigram said. “The only difference is the name on our jersey. So you just got to go out there with a lot of confidence and just play your game; just do what you can do.”

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Who: East Tennessee State University (23-10) vs. Pittsburgh Panthers (28-4)
What: NCAA Tournament East Region first-round men’s basketball game
When: 2:55 p.m., today
Where: University of Dayton Arena in Dayton, Ohio
TV: CBS (11)
Web: http://www.mmod.ncaa.com

Probable starters
ETSU (23-10)
No. Name Pos. Yr. Ht. Wt. Pts. Reb. Ast.
1 Mike Smith G Jr. 6-6 225 15.5 7.7 2.1
3 Courtney Pigram G Sr. 6-1 195 17.6 3.4 4.2
34 Greg Hamlin F Sr. 6-7 210 5.0 4.8 1.2
41 Isiah Brown F Fr. 6-8 200 4.7 4.5 0.4
42 Kevin Tiggs F Sr. 6-4 210 21.5 4.8 1.9
Coach – Murry Bartow (6th year – 118-71; 11th year total – 221-154)
Key reserves – Tommy Hubbard (So., F, 4.1 points, 4.6 rebounds); Micah Williams (So., F, 4.5 points, 2.1 rebounds); Adam Sollazzo (Fr., G, 3.0 points, 3.0 rebounds)

Pittsburgh (28-4)
No. Name Pos. Yr. Ht. Wt. Pts. Reb. Ast.
5 Tyrell Biggs F Sr. 6-8 250 6.9 4.6 0.7
23 Sam Young F Sr. 6-6 220 18.7 6.1 0.8
45 DeJuan Blair C So. 6-7 265 15.6 12.1 1.1
3 Jermaine Dixon G Jr. 6-3 195 9.0 2.5 2.1
2 Levance Fields G Sr. 5-10 190 10.7 2.6 7.6
Coach – Jamie Dixon (6th year – 160-44)
Key reserves – Gilbert Brown (So., G/F, 5.1 points, 3.3 rebounds); Brad Wanamaker (So., G, 5.9 points, 3.3 rebounds); Ashton Gibbs (Fr., G, 4.3 points, 0.6 rebounds)

Last 10
ETSU – 6-4
Pittsburgh – 8-2

NCAA Tournament appearances
ETSU – 8
Pittsburgh – 21

Top national ranking
ETSU – None
Pittsburgh – No. 1 (three times)

NCAA rankings (out of 330 teams)
ETSU – Points per game (78.6, No. 20); steals per game (8.5, No. 31); scoring margin (8.6, No. 39); field-goal percentage (46.8, No. 45); turnover margin (2.5, No. 45)
Pittsburgh – Rebound margin (9.9, No. 2); assist-to-turnover ratio (1.5, No. 2); won-loss percentage (87.5, No. 3); scoring margin (13.9, No. 5); assists per game (18.0, No. 6)

Strengths
ETSU – Big three of Courtney Pigram, Kevin Tiggs, Mike Smith; press defense; mid-range shooting
Pittsburgh – Big three of DeJuan Blair, Levance Fields, Sam Young; rebounding; high turnover-to-assist ratio

Weaknesses
ETSU – No true center; lack of bench scoring; instability at point guard
Pittsburgh – Inexperienced bench; Fields battling injury; big-game pressure