Monday, March 22, 2004 | 9:33 a.m.
SUN WIRE REPORTS
While far from a victory of Biblical proportions, Pittsburgh proved its seeding and superiority by parting a red sea of Wisconsin fans.
The third-seeded Panthers, playing in front a pro-Badgers crowd of 18,866 at the Bradley Center in Milwaukee on Sunday, made the crucial plays at both ends during the final five minutes. As a result, Pittsburgh (31-4) advanced with a 59-55 second-round victory and will face second-seeded Oklahoma State in the regional semifinals Thursday in East Rutherford, N.J.
"We've played before 30,000 people at Syracuse," said Pitt senior Jaron Brown, whose six rebounds were all pivotal. "We're used to hostile environments. It was a great atmosphere."
Wisconsin (25-6) figured to have a pseudo home-court edge. The Badgers, though, couldn't take advantage after they went ahead 48-44 with 5:46 remaining. Pitt held Wisconsin to seven points the rest of the way while making seven of nine free throws to help the Panthers keep control.
"We recruit players who are winners and who are mentally tough," said Pitt first-year coach Jamie Dixon, a guard on two Southwest Conference champions at TCU. "We didn't waste time or energy on where we were playing. Our emphasis was on us."
Along with an emphasis on defense and rebounding, two categories that have made Pitt the nation's winningest team. In a game where the defense was the story, the Panthers proved to be bigger, stronger and tougher. Pitt had a 40-31 rebounding edge and held the Badgers to 35.4 percent shooting.
Guard Devin Harris, Wisconsin's leading scorer, scored a game-high 21 points. His 3-pointer gave the Badgers a 40-37 lead with 11:59 remaining. But those were his final points of the game; he managed two shots the rest of the way.
"We just missed shots, shots that we were hitting in the first half weren't falling in the second half," said Harris, who scored 15 in the first half. "I had some open looks, but they didn't fall for me."
Sophomore guard Carl Krauser drove and scored over three Badgers with two minutes remaining to give Pitt the lead for good, 54-52. He fearlessly attacked the rim despite having four fouls.
"We needed that basket," said Krauser, who scored a team-high 16. "If you're worrying about your next foul, you're not going to get it done.
"We had to stick together to get this win. We relied on the fact that we are all we got."
Pittsburgh started its NCAA journey by wearing T-shirts with one of the team's favorite slogans: "We all we got." So far, the Panthers have had enough to survive to the second weekend.
Kansas (23-8), which has made two straight Final Fours, is in the round of 16 for the fourth consecutive year.
Guillaume Yango had 22 points for Pacific (25-8), which had won 16 straight.
The Yellow Jackets advanced to face 10th-seeded Nevada-Reno on Friday night at the Edward Jones Dome.
B.J. Elder led the Yellow Jackets (25-9) with 18 points, and Jack finished with eight points, six rebounds and six assists. Jared Dudley had 13 points for Boston College (24-10).
East Rutherford Region
The second-seeded Cowboys (29-3) will face third-seeded Pittsburgh on Thursday night at Continental Airlines Arena. Antonio Burks and led Memphis (22-8) with 21 points.
Atlanta Region
Xavier (25-10), which has won 15 of its last 16, will face third-seeded Texas on Friday night at the Georgia Dome.
Shane Power led Mississippi State (26-4) with 16 points.
Williams matched his career high with 31 points, going 10-of-13 from the field, and Illinois (26-6) shot a season-high 63.6 percent. The Big Ten regular-season champion will play top-seeded Duke on Friday night at the Georgia Dome.
Dee Brown added 14 points, eight assists and two sleight-of-hand plays that helped Illinois take control early. Field Williams led fourth-seeded Cincinnati (26-7) with 16 points.
Phoenix Region
The Commodores (23-9) will play second-seeded Connecticut on Thursday night at America West Arena.
Ilian Evtimov had a career-high 28 points for third-seeded North Carolina State (21-10).
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