BOSTON — Pittsburgh and Villanova endured a bruising Big East schedule to qualify for the NCAA Tournament. They arrived that much better prepared to advance to the Final Four.
But first, one of them has to get past the other.
The cross-state rivals will meet in the East Regional final at TD Bank-north Garden today in a game that puts the Big East in the national spotlight. Though it sometimes gets competition for bragging rights from the likes of the Atlantic Coast Conference, there is no questioning the toughness of a league that once experimented with allowing a sixth foul so its bruisers could stay in the game.
“The Big East is going to be tough, no matter what,” said Pittsburgh’s DeJuan Blair, a 6-foot-7, 265-pound big man who was the conference’s co-player of the year. “The ACC — you really can’t compare them. They’re like rocks and cotton. We’re just toughness, we’re not finesse players.”
But if Pittsburgh (31-4) is going to get any further this year, Blair might want to be a little more cotton and a little less rock.
Born and bred in the Steel City, Blair embodies Pittsburgh’s playing style and carries its chances of winning the school’s first NCAA title. He averaged 16 points and 12 rebounds during the season and had a pair of 20-point, 20-rebound games, but he also fouled out in three of the Panthers’ four losses, including a Jan. 28 loss to Villanova in the schools’ only regular-season meeting.
