Pitt and Saint Louis had not played against one another since 1959, but the Panthers were looking at a familiar opponent in the Billikens last night.

Saint Louis runs the same offense and defense as Pitt under first-year coach Rick Majerus, the man Pitt's Jamie Dixon patterned his coaching philosophies after.

It was the pupil who got the better of the teacher as No. 22 Pitt won a tougher than expected contest, 69-58, at the Petersen Events Center.

"It was great because we knew exactly what was coming," Pitt point guard Levance Fields said. "We knew we'd be on defense for 35 seconds each play. We emphasized not falling for shot fakes and no one did. That was good to see that we carried things through."

Long before coming to Pitt, Dixon, while an assistant under Ben Howland at Northern Arizona, went to Utah to study Majerus and his coaching style. Dixon and Howland began running Majerus' motion offense and adopted his tough, defensive mentality that have become the hallmarks of Pitt's program.

"We were struggling our first two years [at Northern Arizona]," Dixon said. "We were running some other stuff. We went to their offensive and defensive philosophies. He's been a good friend and a mentor. His stamp on this program is probably the most significant of anybody."

Pitt is transitioning to a more up-tempo style this season because Dixon has recruited better athletes, but the Panthers showed last night that they still know how to win a low-scoring game. Saint Louis got control of the tempo and bled the shot clock almost every possession, but Pitt made all the right plays down the stretch to record the victory.

"We want to run like we keep talking about, but put in a situation where we have to play against a team that is going to hold the ball for 35 seconds a possession, we have to play a similar style that we played in previous years," Fields said.

Majerus, who spent the past few years as a commentator for ESPN, gushed about the way Pitt (3-0) played.

"Pitt is very good," said Majerus, who coached Utah to the national championship game in 1998. "They played their heart out. They're tough and they're very deep. If I could take Pitt's team or [No. 5] Georgetown's team, I'd take Pitt's team. They play good together. They have unbelievable depth. They have size. They have athleticism. They just kicked our butt. We didn't play well, but it was because of Pitt."

Pitt got big-time efforts from Fields and freshman center DeJuan Blair. Each scored 16 points and converted baskets at crucial times. Majerus was especially impressed with Blair, who was 8 for 15 from the field and pulled down eight rebounds.

Majerus went as far as saying that Blair reminds him of former Utah Jazz star Karl Malone.

"That Blair reminds me of a young Malone," he said. "Malone is the second-leading scorer in the history of the game. He's the greatest pin-seal guy who ever played the game. Blair can be the same way if [he] gets in condition. Blair has phenomenal hands. He has soft hands, good touch and strong hands. And he has a joy about playing. I really love that kid. That kid is a big-time player. I'll say the same thing I said about [Tim] Duncan when I faced Duncan at this age: I'd like to be his agent. He's a phenomenal low-block talent on the come."

Blair, who is averaging 15.3 points and 9.6 rebounds through three games, was a big part of the victory, but Dixon got contributions from several others in the second half when the Panthers pulled away.

Pitt led, 40-37, with 14:08 remaining. But over the next eight minutes, Pitt went on a 15-5 run. Reserve guard Gilbert Brown made a big 3-pointer with 9:40 remaining to give the Panthers a 47-39 lead. Blair scored on consecutive trips down the floor after that. And after Saint Louis trimmed the lead to 10 on a 3-pointer from Luke Meyer, Brown answered with another 3-pointer, giving Pitt its largest lead of the game, 55-42.

"The numbers that stick out to me are that we shot 65 percent in the second half and only had four turnovers," Dixon said. "We shot 75 percent from 3. When it came down to it we really executed our plays."