FanHouse LevanceFields

BOSTON -- If you felt a shiver or tingle Saturday night, a quaking in your solar plexus, it's because you witnessed an epic basketball game, one of the virtuoso classics of March or any month. I mean, did Bill Raftery need oxygen afterward? This was destined to finish with the boldest, loudest exclamation point possible, given the 15 lead changes, palpable tension and Big East-style physicality in the building.

It was just a matter of who, what and when.

And then, in a magnificent flash, it happened. That the moment would belong to Scottie Reynolds, the embattled Villanova guard, made it grander. In enemy gyms, jerky kids with no lives actually chant, "Scottie doesn't know," which might be intended as a Euro Trip reference but almost certainly is meant as a savage reference to how Reynolds was put up for adoption as a baby by an 18-year-old single mother. He never has met the woman, although, with the urging of his adoptive parents, he has done investigative work and figured out who she is. He's waiting for a good time to call her.

BOSTON -- He looks like a chew toy, or something out of a puppet show. His dreads flop over a headband that would stand out more prominently if not for a midsection best described as doughy. His name is Levance Fields, and sometimes, he'll drive you to exasperation with reckless dribbling into traffic and corkscrew jumpshots heaved for no apparent purpose or reason.

BOSTON -- He looks like a chew toy, or something out of a puppet show. His dreads flop over a headband that would stand out more prominently if not for a midsection best described as doughy. His name is Levance Fields, and sometimes, he'll drive you to exasperation with reckless dribbling into traffic and corkscrew jumpshots heaved for no apparent purpose or reason.

This is a little bit of history, with even more possibly on the way.

For the first time since the NCAA tournament expanded to allow multiple bids from one conference in 1975, Pitt has a chance to play itself into the Final Four. And for the first time ever, the Panthers have won more than two games in the NCAA tournament. But Pitt, which last appeared in the Elite Eight with two wins in 1974, didn't make it easy.

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DeJuan Blair made this possible, of course. After a quiet, four-rebound first half, Pitt's monster in the middle went off and hauled in 13 boards in the second half as the Panthers stormed back from an eight-point deficit to advance to the Elite Eight.

But while it wouldn't and couldn't have happened without Blair, Levance Fields won this game in the final minute. There was the Bill Raftery "ONIONS!!" 3-pointer with a hand in his face that broke the tie with 50 seconds left. And then there was the steal-and-layup on the next possession that sealed it. That's a big-time player making big-time plays in a big-time game.

DAYTON, Ohio -- DeJuan Blair's arms are so humongous, he wears bicep bands, tiny strips of cloth stretched to the brink of snapping. At 6-foot-7 and 265 pounds, he could play tight end in the NFL or enter the Octagon, proving it Sunday when he shook off a furious collision that left Oklahoma State's Byron Eaton literally crying in pain on the bench. Levance Fields, too, could put on the big pads as a safety, absorbing a blindside pop in the chops and bouncing right back up. Sam Young? A 6-6, 220-pound wideout, no doubt, when he isn't listening to Go-Go music.

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DAYTON, Ohio -- DeJuan Blair's arms are so humongous, he wears bicep bands, tiny strips of cloth stretched to the brink of snapping. At 6-foot-7 and 265 pounds, he could play tight end in the NFL or enter the Octagon, proving it Sunday when he shook off a furious collision that left Oklahoma State's Byron Eaton literally crying in pain on the bench. Levance Fields, too, could put on the big pads as a safety, absorbing a blindside pop in the chops and bouncing right back up. Sam Young? A 6-6, 220-pound wideout, no doubt, when he isn't listening to Go-Go music.

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The most beautiful thing about college basketball, the "madness" aside, is the collection of mini-runs that occur in a game as momentum shifts throughout. And the Pittsburgh-Louisville game had plenty of them, including a crucial late second-half 10-point stretch from the Cardinals that saw them pull ahead for the final time en route to beating the Panthers, 69-63.

It was a statement game for everyone involved from the Cardinal side, too: Earl Clark came out swinging in the second half, scoring 16 points and grabbing 11 boards on an evening that happened to be his 21st birthday; Terrence Williams solidified his status as team leader with a 20/7/4 line; Rick Pitino's press is suddenly very, very relevant again (at least until I bracket them into the Final Four in a few months).

Jamie Dixon has done a good job with his Pittsburgh team this year. They lost starting guard Mike Cook for the season with a knee injury to sour a win over Duke and then, the next time out, Levance Fields broke his foot in a blowout loss to Dayton. Losing your starting backcourt would kill a lot of teams but Dixon reshaped his team to its new reality. He relied on Sam Young for scoring and DeJuan Blair for interior toughness and got surprisingly strong play from senior guard Ronald Ramon at the point.

It's worked pretty well. The Panthers have gone 8-4 since losing Fields, including a lights-out performance against Providence on Tuesday night. Now, in advance of a crucial stretch run, Dixon gets his point guard back to lead them. Fields is expected to play against Marquette on Friday and, logically, at Notre Dame next week in two games that will have a lot of say in who gets a bye in the first round of the Big East tournament.

Frankly, I like Pitt's chances. With Fields healthy, Ramon and his 42% three-point touch will move to shooting guard. That gives Pitt more flexibility and balance on offense to go with their always strong defense. That's the team that handed Duke their only loss of the season and a team that should close the season with a flourish.

When Dayton coach Brian Gregory is an old man sitting with his grandchildren one afternoon and they ask him about his career as a coach, yesterday's 80-55 win against Pittsburgh will likely come up. He'll tell them how Brian Roberts rained three pointers until the nation finally realized he was a damn fine guard. He'll use Marcus Johnson's 11 rebounds as a lesson that no matter how many inches you're giving up at 6'3", there's no substitute for passion and hard work on the glass. He'll try to pass along just how frenzied the home crowd was, how much they lifted the Flyers on a Saturday afternoon oh so many years ago.

He'll probably leave out the injury that left Pitt without Mike Cook. He certainly won't mention an iffy foul or two on DeJuan Blair which cost Pitt its most talented big man and Levance Fields' injury early in the second half probably won't find its way into the eager ears of the young Gregorys either. No matter. The story of yesterday was Dayton and their impending arrival in the Top 25.

Roberts has gone from unknown to well-known in the early part of this season and if he keeps up his play he'll be in All-America conversations when all is said and done. The Flyers have also entered the bigger picture. They've won 10 straight since stumbling against George Mason, rank seventh in RPI and have wins against Pitt and Louisville. The A-10 hasn't suffered for lack of compliments this season, yesterday's win is a boon for the whole conference which is looking more and more like a four-bid league.

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