This wasn't a textbook victory, to be sure. But given the circumstances, Pitt didn't much care about style points last night.

All that really mattered was that the Panthers got back on the winning track. Their 73-67 win against Cincinnati was as ugly as it was uninspiring, but it got the job done and snapped a losing streak that threatened to derail the team's NCAA tournament hopes.

"That was a very excited locker room," junior point guard Levance Fields said. "It's really good to get one."

The victory secured Pitt's seventh consecutive 20-win season. The Panthers are the only Big East team with such a streak.

Junior forward Sam Young led Pitt with 20 points. DeJuan Blair had 18 points and 10 rebounds for his third consecutive double-double.

Forward John Williamson had 27 points for the Bearcats and Deonta Vaughn had 24 points.

The problems that plagued Pitt during the three-game losing streak were evident again. The Panthers were outworked on the boards, allowed the opponent to shoot a high percentage and didn't shoot particularly well from outside.

The difference in this game was that the Panthers came up with some big plays at opportune times to pull out the victory. Blair tipped in an offensive rebound with 2:08 remaining to give the Panthers a four-point lead, and Fields made a huge 3-pointer with 55 seconds left for a five-point cushion.

Those types of plays were missing in consecutive losses to Marquette, Notre Dame and Louisville.

"We kind of found a way," Pitt coach Jamie Dixon said. "We found a way to win."

Young got the Panthers going after they fell behind by seven points early in the second half. Cincinnati led, 40-33, after scoring 11 of the first 15 points of the second half.

But Young answered the bell for Pitt. He made two free throws and then stole the ball and did a windmill dunk that got the less-than-capacity crowd into the game for the first time.

That was the start of a 14-3 run that turned the game in Pitt's favor.

"It all started with Sam's dunk," Blair said. "That gave us the momentum. We had to stay focused and keep fighting."

The Panthers would have to keep scrapping. Cincinnati came back to tie the score, 52-52, with 8:15 remaining after a Vaughn 3-pointer.

Ronald Ramon made a 3-pointer 20 seconds later that gave Pitt the lead for good. It was one of the few 3-point shots that went down for the Panthers. They were 8 for 26 from behind the arc and continue to struggle with their outside shooting.

"We're not shooting well," Dixon said. "We have to fight through it."

The Panthers won the game because they shot well from inside the arc. The Panthers shot 52 percent from the field in the second half.

Young was 8 for 13 from the field. Blair was 6 for 7 from the field and made some clutch free throws late in the game.

Even though the victory was a large step toward another NCAA berth, Dixon knows his team has plenty of work to do if the Panthers want to be a team to reckon with in the postseason.

Cincinnati outrebounded Pitt, 37-25. Young, the starting power forward, did not have a rebound. The Bearcats also shot 48 percent from the field. It was the fourth consecutive game that the Panthers have been outrebounded. The past four opponents have all shot 42 percent or more from the field.

"We won, so yeah you can win, but you're not going to win consistently doing that," Dixon said. "We've gone from a very good rebounding team to one that doesn't rebound well in the past four games. That has to change."

NOTES -- Ramon became the 36th player in school history to reach 1,000 points. ... Pitt had six turnovers. In the past two games the Panthers have 10 turnovers. ... Fields has 12 assists and one turnover in his first two games back in the starting lineup.