NEW YORK

There were any number of incredible aspects to Pitt's 76-69 overtime win last night against a supremely talented Louisville team that it had, quite frankly, no business beating. This has to be at the top of that list: Freshmen DeJuan Blair and Gilbert Brown played under the Madison Square Garden lights -- the brightest in college basketball -- as if they've been doing it all their lives.

Freshmen? No way.

"What have we played? 33 games? We're not freshmen anymore," Blair said outside the happy Panthers' locker room.

"We're sophomores now ... no, we're froshmores."

Whatever.

What they were for Pitt last night was terrific.

As a result, the Panthers move on in the Big East Conference tournament and will play Notre Dame or Marquette in the semifinals tonight.

We've come to expect veteran Sam Young to be a monster -- and he was yet again with 21 points and 12 rebounds.

We've come to expect big things from experienced guards Levance Fields and Ronald Ramon -- and they delivered against Louisville. Fields had 13 points, six assists and just one turnover against fierce defensive pressure. Ramon, playing a staggering 42-plus minutes, had enough left in overtime to score four consecutive points, making two free throws and a basket that gave the Panthers a 68-64 lead.

But what Pitt got from Blair and Brown? Who saw that coming?

OK, Blair has played big all season, well enough to be named the Big East's Co-Rookie of the Year. But he was coming off a rare lousy performance against Cincinnati in Pitt's 70-64 quarterfinal win Wednesday night. He took just one shot and scored two points.

"The last time I scored two points I was in grade school," Blair said.

Well, at least it was since Pitt played Mississippi Valley State in November.

"OK, it's still been a long time," Blair said, grinning.

Which is what the kid does all the time when he's ballin', by the way. You would smile a lot, too, if you had his ability.

Blair didn't take long to get started against Louisville, tipping in a Ramon miss for Pitt's first basket and scoring on a power layup over Louisville center David Padgett to give the Panthers a 5-4 lead. He would finish with 16 points, perhaps the two biggest coming in overtime when he made two free throws to start the scoring. He had missed two with 52.1 seconds left in regulation with Pitt ahead, 62-60.

"I was down, but my coach and my teammates told me to keep my head up," Blair said. "I was just glad I was able to redeem myself."

Pitt coach Jamie Dixon was just as supportive of Blair back at the team hotel after the Cincinnati game. "He just said, 'It's over. Worry about tomorrow,' " Blair said.

Blair made sure it didn't happen twice. In addition to his offense, he had eight rebounds as Pitt and Louisville battled to a virtual standoff on the boards. He also did a much better job defensively against Padgett, who torched the Panthers for 21 points in that first game. On this night, Padgett scored just 11.

"You're playing against one of the best players in the country right there," Dixon said, marveling at Blair's work against Padgett.

No one in the Pitt locker room was surprised Blair bounced back in such a big way. "He's our big fella. That's what we call him. 'Fella,' " Brown said. "He gets it done. He plays like a senior."

You might say the same thing about Brown after what he did against Louisville. He got in the game early after senior Keith Benjamin had foul trouble and played so well that Dixon used him down the stretch and in overtime instead of Benjamin. He played 36 minutes, a number more amazing than Ramon's 42.

Brown took the ball to the basket strong, with confidence he hasn't shown all season. His eight points were huge. So were his eight rebounds and his one steal, that coming in overtime when he ripped the ball out of Earl Clark's hands on a rebound with Pitt sweating out its 68-64 lead.

"I don't feel like a freshman," Brown said. "I didn't feel like one coming into this season. After redshirting last season [because of illness and ankle problems], I got to experience everything a freshman does except play in the games."

Brown got plenty of playing time after Mike Cook's season-ending knee injury in December. He started 15 games before being bumped out of the lineup when Fields came back from his foot injury in mid-February. Obviously, that experience paid off big time for Pitt last night.

Now, the Panthers have a date with Notre Dame or Marquette. They are a phenomenal 17-6 in their past 23 Big East tournament games -- "It's like we're at home here, like we're playing at The Pete,' " Brown said -- and are just one win away from going to the conference tournament championship game for the seventh time in eight years.

"We want to add a new twist to that," Brown said. "All of us have talked about it. Everybody is saying, 'Let's win it this time.' "

Pitt's only championship came in 2003.

Suddenly, the way Young, Fields, Ramon and those seasoned froshmores are playing, a second title no longer seems so preposterous.