Game of the Night (2/24)

Pittsburgh Panthers 73 – Providence Friars 81

After rising to the number one spot Sunday and a week after beating then-number one ranked Connecticut, Pittsburgh fell rather easily to Providence. The Friars’ balanced attack (five players scored in double figures) overwhelmed Pittsburgh, who was in foul trouble the entire night. DeJuan Blair, the reigning Big East player of the week (after dominating Uconn’s Hasheem Thabeet), picked up his fourth foul midway through the second half, greatly diminishing his presence on both the offensive and defensive sides of the ball. Fellow Pitt stars, Sam Young and Levance Fields struggled from the field, shooting a combined 9-25. The Friars led by 18 at halftime after going on a 15-1 run to close out the first half. Pittsburgh, which never led in the game, cut the lead to five points in the final minute but never came closer than that. This was the first time in 33 years that Providence defeated a number-one ranked team and the second time overall. This win will boost the Friars’ resume and improve their Big East record to 9-7 (17-11 overall). Although Providence has a strong record in conference, its only other signature win was against Syracuse back in January. The Friars have gone 2-7 against ranked Big East opponents, racking up most of their wins against the bottom part of the conference. This win should be enough to vault Providence over Cincinnati (17-10, 7-7) and Notre Dame (15-11, 6-8) both of whom have played tougher schedules. Providence can further improve its resume for March when it plays at No. 12 Villanova March 5, four days after playing Rutgers. On the other side, Pittsburgh (25-3, 12-3) may be in jeopardy of losing its all-but-guaranteed number one seed for March Madness. This was the second time in two months that Pittsburgh rose to the top spot before quickly falling (losing at No. 20 Louisville in January after two weeks at number one). The door is open for Connecticut, Oklahoma, North Carolina, Memphis, and Louisville to gain a number one seed for March. Pittsburgh will have to quickly regroup against Seton Hall before it hosts No. 10 Marquette and No. 2 Connecticut in its final two games before the Big East Tournament. -J.S.

Honorable Mention: Texas A&M 57 -- Nebraska 55