BIG EAST CONFERENCE Pitt, UConn set for key game

The winner likely will win the conference's regular-season title.
PITTSBURGH (AP) -- Pitt coach Jamie Dixon can only smile when he hears that the Panthers' rivalry with Connecticut is the best in the Big East Conference.
"When I came here five years ago [as an assistant coach], we didn't have a lot of teams that would consider us a rival," Dixon said.
That's all changed as Pittsburgh has gone 79-13 the last three seasons under former coach Ben Howland and Dixon, with two losses to UConn. The teams play for the second and final time in the regular season today, with the winner emerging as the likely conference regular season champion.
Pitt (22-2, 8-2) is ranked No. 4 and UConn (19-4, 7-2) is No. 5, even though both teams lost hours after the latest poll came out Monday -- the Panthers in double overtime at Seton Hall, UConn at Notre Dame.
Game on TV
This afternoon's game will be televised to about half the country by ABC, and will be the first regular season match-up of Top Five teams ever on Pitt's home floor. It's being called the biggest regular season game ever at the school.
UConn coach Jim Calhoun hopes his players notice. Since starting the season 14-1, the Huskies are 5-3.
"We've been brilliant and inconsistent all within the same season," Calhoun said. "... That's the thing I'm trying to convince my team of -- people really, really like to beat us."
Dixon has spent the last few days trying to keep his players from focusing too much on today, but that may prove difficult. UConn ended Pitt's season-opening, 18-game winning streak with a 68-65 victory on Jan. 19, that saw Pitt freshman Antonio Graves miss a potential tying 3-pointer on the final play.
"The last two years we were in the [Big East] championship game together and we split that, so we've just got a little thing going right now," Pitt senior guard Julius Page said. "We're trying to protect our home court."
Long home streak
The Panthers have won 39 consecutive home games, the nation's longest streak among Division I schools. Their last home loss was to Notre Dame in January 2002, which coincidentally, was the last time they lost consecutive games; they followed that loss with one at Miami.
To get their current streak to 40, Pitt must effectively contain UConn's 6-foot-10 Emeka Okafor, who averages 19.5 points and 11 rebounds and is arguably the nation's best inside player.
"He is always in the back of our minds -- you think about him every time you take it to the basket," Page said. "His presence is big. But [Pitt freshman] Chris Taft now knows what he can do."
Pitt held Okafor to 11 points and seven rebounds last month, but forward Denham Brown scored 20 points on 8-of-12 shooting. Brown has averaged only 6.5 points since, causing Calhoun to consider benching him, though he will start today.
Pitt relied on 6-7 senior Chevon Troutman to lean on Okafor last month, with the 6-10 Taft helping out. Taft is coming off a 16-point, 15-rebound game against Seton Hall.