PITTSBURGH — Plenty of Big East college basketball teams can look ahead to a bright future. Not many, though, can see it every time they walk to or from practice.

Just a half-court shot away from Pittsburgh’s current facility, the Fitzgerald Field House, lies the future. It’s the Peterson Events Center, a glassy, ultramodern arena slated to open next season. It’s also the place where the Panthers (16-3, 4-2 Big East) were supposed to finally blossom after a decade of sub-.500 seasons and unfulfilled promises.

Pitt, with only one senior on its roster, decided to start a year early. While the new building still awaits the final stages of completion, the construction of this year’s Panther team is ahead of schedule.

‘We came into this season with high expectations,’ Pitt head coach Ben Howland said a day before his surprising squad meets No. 12 Syracuse (16-3, 5-0 Big East) for the final time ever at the Field House tonight at 7. ‘Just because we don’t share that view with the media doesn’t mean that we don’t have it. To be a good program you have to approach it just like that.’

Failing to make the NCAA Tournament since the 1992-93 season, the Panthers are now running on the inside track to this year’s postseason, fueled by a 15-1 start. Howland is sure to mention that his team’s emergence as a conference power began at the end of last season, when the Panthers strung together three upsets — including a 55-54 overtime victory against the Orangemen — to reach the finals of the Big East Tournament.

‘We finished very strong last year,’ the third-year coach said. ‘Our goal was to take that same attitude, feeling, work ethic and desire from the stretch run last year, and I think that’s really helped us.’

Nobody has helped the team more this year than point guard Brandin Knight, brother of the Memphis Grizzlies’ Brevin Knight. The junior leads the team in scoring, three-pointers made, assists and minutes played. In addition, he spearheads a team defense ranked first in the Big East.

‘Their defense has been very good,’ Syracuse head coach Jim Boeheim said. ‘Their execution is good. They have a lot of guys back from last year and they’re all playing well.’

Knight, who tops the team with 36 steals, remains questionable for tonight’s game because of tendinitis in his right calf. The injury has had little time to heal, as Knight played 47 of 50 minutes in a double-overtime loss to Miami last Tuesday (in which he scored just five points on 1-for-10 shooting) and then 38 of 40 minutes in Saturday’s victory over Georgetown.

In both of those games and in several others, the young Panthers blew double-digit leads. Against Georgetown, Pitt gave away a 17-point advantage only to regain the lead with seconds to play.

About 500 miles away on the same day, the Orangemen frantically rallied from an identical deficit in Knoxville, Tenn., only to fall four points short. The opposing trends offer Syracuse reason for optimism.

‘Against Pitt, we just have to come out ready to play in the first half,’ SU freshman Josh Pace said. ‘We have to play a full 40 minutes.’

Nonetheless, Howland expressed little concern when asked about his team’s propensity for letting opponents back into ball games.

‘That’s the deal — it goes back and forth,’ Howland said. ‘Watch the NBA. Basketball at the higher levels is really a game of runs. As a coach, you don’t want that; you want to be on the topside of all those runs. But if we can continue on the same pace of winning that we’re on right now, then I am happy.’

It’s not all smiles, though, for the Panther coaching staff. Not when a team on the cusp of the Top 25 needs a victory against a team that plays stiff defense.

‘Syracuse has the best zone in the country,’ Howland said. ‘They are so active in it. And (Boeheim) recruits for it. They hate to recruit anybody shorter than 6-foot-3 or 6-foot-4. They all have long arms. It’s just like a bunch of clones out there — all long and quick.’

Jeremy McNeil — a 6-foot-8 forward, who fits three of those four attributes — said the team is looking to reassert itself after a difficult loss.

‘We are ready to get back for the Pitt game,’ McNeil said. ‘I think this Tennessee game can teach us something. Everybody will be ready to go play Pitt.’

Published on January 21, 2002 at 12:00 pm