University of Pittsburgh Athletics
The Foundation Stands Strong
5/8/2024 1:00:00 PM | General, Men's Basketball
Pitt celebrated its outstanding basketball history in fine fashion on February 3, 2024 honoring the 1974 and 2009 NCAA Tournament Elite Eight Teams. The Panthers' 1974 squad celebrated the 50th Anniversary of its magical season that closed with a 25-4 record, including a 22-game win streak. The 2009 team was honored on the 15th anniversary of its 31-win season that included the school's first No. 1 ranking in the AP Poll.
1973-74
Overall Record
Home Record
- Pitt's first team to advance to NCAA Elite Eight in the new NCAA format
- All five starters were Pittsburgh natives and were featured in a prominent story in Sports Illustrated
- Set a school record with 25 wins
- Won 22 consecutive games after losing the season opener to West Virginia
- Billy Knight became just the second player in Pitt basketball history to average more than 20.0 points per game in three consecutive seasons
- Averaged 80.8 points per game to its opponents' 65.8 per season
- Extended home win streak to 27 games
The 1973-74 season was a special one in Pitt men's basketball history. The Panthers began the season with an 82-78 loss to West Virginia at the Coliseum, an occurrence that wasn't too surprising considering Pitt's historic struggles on WVU's home court, but the Panthers bounced back to defeat Rutgers, 36-21 in a game that was halted (and forfeited to Pitt) when a group of Rutgers students staged a sit-in demonstration on the court late in the first half. That started an incredible string of 22 straight wins.
Along the way, Pitt defeated the likes of Duquesne (82-65), Florida State (82-60), Connecticut (83-63), Arkansas (91- 83), Davidson (90-63), Duke (62-46) and Syracuse (71-56). Pitt averaged 80.8 points per game to its opponents' 65.8 that season.
Pitt's tallest player was 6'8" junior center Jim Bolla, who later became the head women's basketball coach at UNLV. Bolla, who passed away in 2022, remembered the season with tremendous pride.
"Everyone liked everybody, and we just played one game at a time," he said in a Pittsburgh Post-Gazette article several years ago. "We didn't even keep track of how many games we'd won. We just came and played every day and had fun. Everyone liked each other and respected each other."
Everyone liked Billy Knight, one of only three players in Pitt history—Don Hennon and Larry Harris being the others—to average more than 20 points per game in three consecutive seasons.
"They were a homegrown team with a homespun coach. They played a defense that few teams could spell and fewer teams could beat. They didn't pay attention to how many games they won. They simply paid attention to each other. And it all worked."
– Paul Meyer, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Pittsburgh's 22-game win streak ended abruptly and dramatically at Penn State's Recreation Building on Saturday, Feb. 23, 1974. With the score tied at 64, Pitt inbounded with seven seconds remaining, but Knight was called for traveling.
Penn State's Ron Brown swished a jumper from the top of the key as the buzzer sounded, and Pitt was 22-2.
The Panthers received an at-large bid to the 32-team NCAA Tournament and bussed to the WVU Coliseum, where they defeated St. Joseph's, 54-42 before a largely pro-Pitt crowd. The Panthers' reward for that win was to travel to Raleigh, North Carolina, for the East Regional, which included North Carolina State, Providence and Pittsburgh's first-game foe, the Furman Paladins. Knight, who was in the midst of a late-season shooting slump, broke out for 34 points, helping Pitt to an 81-78 victory and setting up an East final against the Wolfpack, which beat Pittsburgh, 100-72.
2008-09
Overall Record
Home Record
Program Firsts
- Advancing to the NCAA Regional Final and Elite Eight for the first time since the NCAA Tournament expanded to 64 teams
- Earning the program's first-ever No. 1 seed upon entering the NCAA Tournament
- Ascending to the nation's consensus No. 1 national ranking for the first time in school history and holding the top spot for three weeks during the season (Jan. 5, Jan. 12 and Feb. 23)
- Defeating the nation's No. 1 ranked team for the first time in school history (a 76-68 win over Connecticut on Feb. 16), then becoming just the ninth team in NCAA history to defeat a No. 1 ranked team two different times in the same season with a 70-60 home win over Connecticut on March 7
From the season opener's tipoff to its heartbreaking loss in the NCAA Regional Final, the 2008-09 Pitt men's basketball team marked a year of incredible achievement.
Pitt set school records for most victories in a season (31-5 record), most Big East Conference regular-season wins (15-3), most home wins (19), total home attendance (212,682 in 19 games) and best average home attendance (11,194 per game). The Panthers also completed their home schedule with an undefeated 19-0 record at the Petersen Events Center, the program's fourth undefeated home slate in school history. Seniors Tyrell Biggs, Levance Fields and Sam Young set a school record for most victories over a four-year period with a 112-31 record.
Pitt Head Coach Jamie Dixon, the 2009 Naismith National Coach of the Year, set an NCAA Division I college basketball record for most victories over the first six years of a coaching career with his 163-45 record. He surpassed the previous record of 161 wins held by North Carolina State's Everett Case from 1947-52 and guided Pitt to NCAA Tournament appearances in each of his first six seasons as head coach.
Pitt got off to a 16-0 start to its season. As the nation's No. 1 ranked team, Pitt registered two home wins over both St. John's and South Florida, setting up a high-profile matchup at No 20 Louisville that it lost 69-63.
It first defeated Notre Dame, 93-80, behind a 23-point, 22-rebound performance by Blair; notched a nonconference win over Robert Morris; and registered a 28-point win at DePaul that saw Blair score 32 points and Fields match the school's game assists record with 16. Dominating wins over West Virginia and Cincinnati set up a national matchup at No. 1 Connecticut. In a sparkling 76-68 win over the Huskies, Young led all scorers with 25 points, but it was Blair who captured the nation's attention with his second 20-20 performance of the year (22 points, 23 rebounds) and inadvertent flip of UConn's Hasheem Thabeet. A home victory over DePaul, coupled with losses to the nation's No. 1, No. 2 and No. 3 ranked teams, gave Pitt the No. 1 ranking for the second time and third week of the year.
After a stunning loss at Providence, Pitt battled back to claim victory over Seton Hall and a come-from-behind win against Marquette. The Marquette win was particularly special, as Pitt found itself trailing by nine points but stormed back with a 21-2 run to claim the win. Prior to the Marquette game, Pitt retired the jersey of assistant coach and former All-American Brandin Knight.
The back-to-back wins set up Pitt's regular-season home finale against No. 1 Connecticut. In a much-anticipated rematch on senior day, Young, Fields and Biggs sent the record-setting energized crowd of 12,908 home with a 70-60 win. Young provided the spark, as he scored 31 points and pulled down 10 rebounds in a memorable performance. Fields, who had suffered an injury during the Marquette game, played the entire contest, scoring 10 points and dishing out 12 assists.
Dejuan Blair
- Became the first player at Pitt to earn First Team All-America honors from the Associated Press
- Big East Co-Player of the Year
- Consensus First Team All-America honors
- Finished among the nation's top three for the National Player of the Year awards
- Big East Co-Most Valuable Player, consensus All-Region
Sam Young
- Became just the fourth player in school history to earn All-Big East First Team honors in two seasons
- Earned several All-America honors
- Set his own single-season scoring record
- Concluded career ranked fourth on Pitt's all-time career scoring list with 1,884 career points
Levance Fields
- Set Pitt's single-season assists record
- Led the nation for most of the season in both assists per game (7.5) and assist-to-turnover ratio (3.8)
- All-America, All-Big East, and three-time Bob Cousy Award nominee
Pitt earned its first-ever No. 1 seed upon entering the NCAA Tournament. The Panthers also were named the nation's No. 2 seed behind Big East champion Louisville and concluded the year with a No. 2 ranking in the rating percentage index.
Pitt advanced to the NCAA Second Round with a first-round victory over East Tennessee State, then defeated a red-hot Oklahoma State team to advance to the NCAA Sweet Sixteen for the fifth time in eight years.
The triumphs sent Pitt to Boston, where it would meet Xavier in NCAA Regional action. A hard-fought, physical game against the Musketeers came down to the last minute, as Fields hit a go-ahead 3-pointer to give Pitt the lead, then converted a steal into a transition layup with 24 seconds left to secure the win.
Pitt advanced to NCAA Regional play for the first time since the tournament expanded to 64 teams. Its opponent in the regional final was Big East rival Villanova. In a game typical of the league's physical play, it all came down to the final play, as Villanova's Scottie Reynolds drove a half-length of the floor and hit a buzzer-beating layup to defeat the Panthers.
The journey through the 2008-09 season is the blueprint for Pitt Basketball going forward. Winning with grit, toughness and a blue-collar approach that is quintessentially Pittsburgh is the program's hallmark. The Elite Eight team overcame adversity to exceed expectations and become the team that nobody wanted to face in March. And Pitt Basketball remembers that heartbreak and uses it as motivation to continue its climb to the top of the college basketball world.
