Published: February 21, 2008 12:01 am      

Critical couple facing Panthers

PITTSBURGH — The Pitt men’s basketball team hasn’t won three straight games since mid-January, but freshman center DeJuan Blair believed that the Panthers were ready to get on a roll with the season entering the homestretch.

That’s going to be easier said than done, however, as Pitt (19-6 overall, 7-5 Big East) visits No. 21 Notre Dame (19-5, 9-3) tonight at 7 at the Joyce Center in South Bend, Ind., and plays host to No. 18 Louisville (21-6, 11-3) Sunday at noon.

The Fighting Irish have a 34-game home win streak.

“Obviously, they haven’t lost at home in a long time, so we have to try to stop that,” Blair said. “And we just have to try to have more energy that them. That’s what we’ve got to do on the road, have more energy than the home team. And we have to worry about our defense. The offense will come.

“All we’ve got to do is play defense. I think it’s going to come together. This is our time. We’re about to get into the Big East (Tournament), March Madness, so we’re coming together as a team and starting to get focused for that. We’re having better practices now, and the coaches are pushing us. So, I think we’re ready to put it all together and get on a roll for the postseason.”

While Pitt struggled at both ends of the court in a lopsided loss at Marquette last Friday night, Blair’s play has been especially inconsistent.

It appeared that the 6-foot-7 freshman finally hit a wall after a strong first half in his rookie year.

“Everybody goes through this,” senior guard Ronald Ramon said. “I did it when I was a freshman, and now he’s going through it. It’s just a period of time when everybody else has to come together to get the job done. We have confidence in DeJuan, that he’ll step it up and play his best games now.”

Blair had 16 points and 14 rebounds against Washington’s Jon Brockman and came back with 15 points and 20 rebounds against Kyle Singler and Duke.

“(Notre Dame’s) Luke Harangody’s good,” Pitt coach Jamie Dixon said. “He’s tough. He plays hard. He’s really an interesting player. He does some things that are unconventional in the post in how he plays offensively and defensively. He can score facing, and he can score on the block, and he uses his quick feet to score. He’s similar to DeJuan in a lot of ways.

“I think Harangody’s improved since last year as a freshman, and I think we’ll see the same type of improvements from DeJuan next year.”

Pitt and Notre Dame haven’t played for two years, but the Panthers have won five straight, including the last outing 100-97 in double-overtime Jan. 4, 2006, at the Petersen Events Center.