Pitt center Aaron Gray, whose left ankle was sprained Saturday in a victory against Washington, did not practice yesterday and is questionable for the game today at Seton Hall.
Gray received treatment on his ankle as his teammates went through a light workout before departing for New Jersey yesterday evening. Gray was to receive treatment all day yesterday and again today in hopes of bringing down the swelling. Gray and the coaches will determine shortly before game time whether he will play.
If Gray does not play, it will mark the first time in his two seasons as Pitt's starting center that he will miss a game because of injury. With Gray hobbled or possibly out, it could be up to Pitt's supporting cast to bring home the victory against one of the worst teams in the Big East. And that might not be good news, considering the way the Panthers have been shooting in recent games.
Pitt has made 38 of 106 attempts from the field in the past two games. The Panthers shot 36.2 percent against Washington and 35.4 percent in the loss to Louisville. Those are low numbers for a team that is shooting close to 49 percent for the season and had not been below 40 percent in a game in the first 25 games.
"Obviously, we have to shoot better," Pitt coach Jamie Dixon said. "We're one of the top field-goal shooting teams in the country and we haven't shot it well in the last two. We have to do a better job in that regard."
A big part of the problem is the 3-point shooting. Outside shooting had been a positive for most of the season, but the guards have gone cold lately.
In the past four games, the Panthers are shooting 26 percent (15 for 57) from 3-point range. In those games, Antonio Graves is 3 for 13 from behind the 3-point arc, Ronald Ramon 4 for 13 and Levance Fields 4 for 14.
"It's not a concern," Fields said. "We're getting good shots. A couple of mine [on Saturday] were in and out. We're not going to let that get to us. That's not going to bother us."
Small forward Mike Cook, who broke out of a scoring slump against Washington with 15 points, is not worried about the shooting woes, either.
"It'll come together," Cook said. "Those guys are great shooters. We're not worried about it. I hope teams think they can let us shoot from out there because we'll take advantage of that. Our guys will start making them again."
Pitt was able to beat Washington despite poor shooting because the Panthers committed a season-low six turnovers. Protecting the ball will be of important today because Seton Hall presses almost the entire game and will no doubt be encouraged by the fact that the Panthers committed 19 turnovers a week ago against Louisville's press.
"I know they watched the Louisville game, so they'll be fired up thinking their press is going to be effective against us," Fields said. "We have to attack it. That's one thing we didn't do against Louisville was attack the press."
The statistics suggest that Seton Hall's press is even more effective than Louisville's. The Pirates force 18.8 turnovers per game, which leads the Big East. The downside to that is when opponents break the press they have scored easy baskets in transition. Seton Hall's opponents are shooting 46.5 percent from the field, which is the worst in the Big East.
"A press is a press," Cook said. "We just have to find ways to make plays against it. We have good basketball players and decision makers. Bottom line is you have to go out there and make plays."
Gray received treatment on his ankle as his teammates went through a light workout before departing for New Jersey yesterday evening. Gray was to receive treatment all day yesterday and again today in hopes of bringing down the swelling. Gray and the coaches will determine shortly before game time whether he will play.
If Gray does not play, it will mark the first time in his two seasons as Pitt's starting center that he will miss a game because of injury. With Gray hobbled or possibly out, it could be up to Pitt's supporting cast to bring home the victory against one of the worst teams in the Big East. And that might not be good news, considering the way the Panthers have been shooting in recent games.
Pitt has made 38 of 106 attempts from the field in the past two games. The Panthers shot 36.2 percent against Washington and 35.4 percent in the loss to Louisville. Those are low numbers for a team that is shooting close to 49 percent for the season and had not been below 40 percent in a game in the first 25 games.
"Obviously, we have to shoot better," Pitt coach Jamie Dixon said. "We're one of the top field-goal shooting teams in the country and we haven't shot it well in the last two. We have to do a better job in that regard."
A big part of the problem is the 3-point shooting. Outside shooting had been a positive for most of the season, but the guards have gone cold lately.
In the past four games, the Panthers are shooting 26 percent (15 for 57) from 3-point range. In those games, Antonio Graves is 3 for 13 from behind the 3-point arc, Ronald Ramon 4 for 13 and Levance Fields 4 for 14.
"It's not a concern," Fields said. "We're getting good shots. A couple of mine [on Saturday] were in and out. We're not going to let that get to us. That's not going to bother us."
Small forward Mike Cook, who broke out of a scoring slump against Washington with 15 points, is not worried about the shooting woes, either.
"It'll come together," Cook said. "Those guys are great shooters. We're not worried about it. I hope teams think they can let us shoot from out there because we'll take advantage of that. Our guys will start making them again."
Pitt was able to beat Washington despite poor shooting because the Panthers committed a season-low six turnovers. Protecting the ball will be of important today because Seton Hall presses almost the entire game and will no doubt be encouraged by the fact that the Panthers committed 19 turnovers a week ago against Louisville's press.
"I know they watched the Louisville game, so they'll be fired up thinking their press is going to be effective against us," Fields said. "We have to attack it. That's one thing we didn't do against Louisville was attack the press."
The statistics suggest that Seton Hall's press is even more effective than Louisville's. The Pirates force 18.8 turnovers per game, which leads the Big East. The downside to that is when opponents break the press they have scored easy baskets in transition. Seton Hall's opponents are shooting 46.5 percent from the field, which is the worst in the Big East.
"A press is a press," Cook said. "We just have to find ways to make plays against it. We have good basketball players and decision makers. Bottom line is you have to go out there and make plays."
