With less than five minutes remaining in the first half and Pitt up four Wednesday night against Cincinnati, the Bearcats outworked the Panthers for five offensive rebounds in one possession before center Adam Hrycaniuk finally scored, was fouled and converted a 3-point play.

It was a big momentum swing and it had to be disconcerting for Pitt coach Jamie Dixon, who had become accustomed to watching his team scrap, claw and hustle for loose balls over the years. After being the physically dominant team for years, recent opponents have been outworking the Panthers.

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Scouting Report

• Matchup: Pitt (20-8, 8-7 Big East) vs. Syracuse (17-11, 7-8), noon today, Carrier Dome, Syracuse, N.Y.
• TV, Radio, Internet: ESPN, WWSW-FM (94.5), WBGG-AM (970), www.pittsburghpanthers.com.
• Pitt: Snapped a three-game losing streak with a 73-67 victory against Cincinnati. ... Has won its past three games in Syracuse. ... Junior F Sam Young is third in the Big East Conference in scoring (18.1 points per game).
• Syracuse: Coming off 94-87 loss at Notre Dame. ... Has lost four of its past five games. ... Led by Donte Greene (17.1 ppg, 7.4 rpg), Jonny Flynn (15.3 ppg, 2.7 rpg) and Paul Harris (14.4 ppg, 8.6 rpg).
• Hidden stat: Pitt has won four consecutive regular-season games against Syracuse.

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Cincinnati became the fourth consecutive opponent to outrebound Pitt. The Bearcats had a 37-25 advantage. Louisville outrebounded Pitt by seven. Notre Dame had eight more rebounds and Marquette, one of the worst rebounding teams in the Big East Conference, had three more rebounds.

Pitt somehow managed to beat Cincinnati after losing three in a row to the Cardinals, Irish and Golden Eagles, but Dixon knows his team was fortunate to come away with a victory after being so thoroughly dominated on the boards.

"We're not rebounding well enough," Dixon said. "I think the numbers speak for themselves. We're one of the top rebounding teams [in the Big East] and we haven't performed at that level as of late. We have to get that solved rather quickly."

Pitt is still fourth in the conference in rebounding margin entering a game today at Syracuse, but that is due in large part to the big rebounding numbers the Panthers posted early in the season. In their first 15 Big East games, the Panthers have held the rebounding edge just eight times.

Last season, Pitt had the rebounding edge in 13 of 20 games. In two others, the Panthers tied the opponent in rebounding.

"We usually get [other teams] on the boards by plus-10 easy," junior forward Sam Young said. "For us to be minus-10, minus-9, minus-7 ... that's a big turnaround, and it definitely shows in our record. It's something we're going to have to figure out soon."

Recognizing the problem, however, is far easier than finding a solution. Dixon has started a small lineup all season and it became even smaller when 5-foot-10 junior point guard Levance Fields returned to the starting lineup.

When Fields came back after sitting out nearly seven weeks with a foot injury, Dixon put 6-6 freshman Gilbert Brown on the bench. That left Dixon with a three-guard starting five that also included 6-1 Ron Ramon and 6-2 Keith Benjamin.

Dixon also seems hesitant to use 6-10 freshman reserve Gary McGhee more. McGhee, a backup to starting center DeJuan Blair, has played a combined 12 minutes the past four games and did not play at all in the Cincinnati and Louisville games.

"DeJuan is our leading rebounder, so I don't know how much we want to take him out," Dixon said. "We need to play guys more minutes. That would be better for us defensively. But at the same time you have to get production. You're talking about playing two freshmen more on a team that's won 20 games. We'll see. I hope that's the case. I hope they continue to improve. Gilbert gave us some good minutes [Wednesday] night. Cutting down his minutes gave us a little more production. Cutting down minutes can make guys more effective."

Blair said the Panthers have to get back to their relentless mentality that helped them win so many games in seasons past.

"Rebounding will get us more wins," Blair said. "We can't keep getting outrebounded. We're usually the top rebounding team in the conference. That's slipping away. We have to have everyone crash the boards. We just have to keep working. It will come. We just have to keep beating it into everyone's head."

It won't get any easier for Pitt against Syracuse, which is third in the Big East in rebounding margin. Coach Jim Boeheim starts a big lineup and has scrappy guard Paul Harris, who leads the team with 8.6 rebounds per game.

"We can't stress how much we have to outrebound them this game," Young said. "That will be a big factor in how this game plays out. They are a good rebounding team. They have some big guys in there. We're definitely going to have to get on the boards."

Today

• Game: Pitt (20-8, 8-7 Big East) vs. Syracuse (17-11, 7-8), noon, Carrier Dome.

• TV: ESPN.