PITTSBURGH (AP)—Jamie Dixon is closing in on his 200th coaching victory at Pitt. Perhaps by the time he gets to No. 300, the Panthers will have lost another non-conference home game.

Brad Wanamaker had 16 points and 11 assists and No. 3 Pittsburgh used its man-to-man defense and patient offense to slow down Rider’s 3-point shooters during an 87-68 victory on Dec. 4.

IN THE PAINT—Pitt’s Brad Wanamaker drives into the paint as Rider’s Mike Ringgold defends during the Panthers 87-68 win at the Petersen Events Center on Dec. 4. Wanamaker finished the game with 16 points and 11 assists. (Photo by Chris Lopez)

Ashton Gibbs also scored 16 points and Dante Taylor added 12 to help the Panthers win their 53rd consecutive non-conference home game and their 102nd in 103 games.

They are 81-1 against non-Big East opponents at the Petersen Events Center, where they are 138-11 overall—a statistic that remained on the scoreboard 40 minutes after the game ended.

Pitt, outscoring its home-court opponents by nearly 27 points per game, is 9-0 for the eighth time in nine seasons.

:10 I know we’ve all seen it a hundred times and I know everyone has their own list. You got Rocky, Slapshot, The Natural, Bingo Long and the Traveling All-Stars and now Blindside. But I tell you what, you’ll have a hard time not making “Remember the Titans” the No. 1 sports movie of all time. Denzel Washington at his best, the true life history of the story, the music and the on the field action…It’s hard to beat.

BILL NEAL

:9 And call they did! Some of you, no—a lot of you—called in to get me told about my “Top Ten Best Jumpers Ever” list.

Here’s an update.

“Neal, How you gonna have a top 10 without Jim McCoy? There’s a reason they called him “Jumpin’ Jim” McCoy!”

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (AP)—Pittsburgh and Kentucky will meet in the BBVA Compass Bowl Jan. 8.

The Panthers (7-5, 5-2) were in position to claim the Big East Conference’s bid to a BCS bowl before losing to rival West Virginia 35-10 on Nov. 26. Instead, Pitt will play in a bowl with a projected $600,000 payout, the second lowest of any bowl game. No. 22 West Virginia (9-3) will face N.C. State (8-4) in the Champs Sports Bowl on Dec. 28 at the Florida Citrus Bowl stadium in Orlando.

Allderdice basketball coach Andre McDonald says he is confident that his team will be a solid contender for its third consecutive City League championship this season.

However, he also believes that there will be a surprise team in the League this season.

“I think Carrick is going to shock some people this year,” McDonald said. “They’ll have some good athletes and will hang in there from what I’ve seen out of certain players of theirs over the summer.”

BEN MICKENS (William McBride/File Photos)