DENVER -- Pitt knows its bread is buttered with lock-down defense. Defense has been the program's trademark for the better part of a decade and has led to many victories in that span.

The Panthers continued their late-season stretch of stingy defensive performances yesterday in their 82-63 victory against Oral Roberts in the first round of the NCAA tournament at the Pepsi Center. But one attribute this Pitt team has that many others of the recent past did not is a high-powered offense.

NCAA Men's Bracket

The Panthers showed off that new facet of their game against Oral Roberts, the top defensive team in the Summit League, and served notice that they might not be the same old Panthers any longer.

"That was our emphasis this year, to be a fastbreak team," said junior point guard Levance Fields, who led the Panthers with 23 points. "We haven't shown that every game because we had the injuries. But I think we've done a good job this year of getting easy looks and pushing the tempo at times. We've been better than in previous years and better than people thought we would be in the open court."

Pitt will play another defensive-minded team in the second round tomorrow night. Michigan State will be the opponent standing in the way of Pitt's fifth trip to the Sweet 16 in the past seven seasons. Michigan State defeated Temple, 72-61, yesterday.

Pitt had five players score in double figures and shot 46.4 percent from the field. The scintillating performance had Oral Roberts coach Scott Sutton heaping praise upon the Panthers.

"I knew they were a very good team," Sutton said. "I knew they were playing as well as anybody. They impressed me. They were better than I expected. We've played some great teams the last two years in the tournament. Memphis was a No. 1 seed two years ago and Washington State was a No. 3 seed last year. I think this is the best team we played."

Oral Roberts came into the game with a reputation of playing tough defense. The Golden Eagles held Texas to 66 points and Arkansas to 62 in games in December. They had given up more than 80 points on only one other occasion this season, and the opponent -- Texas A&M Corpus Christi -- had to go to overtime to do it.

Pitt made it look easy. With Fields breaking down the defense, the Panthers streaked their way to a 47-24 halftime lead.

"I just think our offense has been getting better and better the last four or five games," senior guard Keith Benjamin said. "The offense was clicking. We started a little slow, but we got it going to the point where we almost weren't missing a shot. When we're doing stuff like that we're hard to guard. When we're not selfish it makes us tough to guard. I think we're one of the best at that."

For one stretch in the first half, Pitt could do no wrong. After falling behind to the Golden Eagles in the early stages, Pitt scored 18 consecutive points to assume control of the game. The Panthers finished the final 11:40 of the first half on a 37-11 run.

"We started getting the ball up court faster," Benjamin said. "We started to notice their transition defense was breaking down. We were making great passes, getting great shots. Eventually we started to break their back. Once we started to do what we had to do, they were deflating every possession. That's more fun to watch than winning the game."

The defense was up to snuff as well. Pitt held Oral Roberts to 34.9 percent shooting from the field. The Golden Eagles made just 7 of their 28 shots in the first half.

The Panthers also owned the glass, outrebounding the Golden Eagles, 50-33. And that was with DeJuan Blair and Sam Young, the team's top two rebounders, in foul trouble for much of the game.

"We played excellent defense in the first half," Blair said. "That was a big key. If we keep playing defense, our offense is excellent. If we keep doing that, the sky is the limit for this team."

Blair was the only starter not to reach double figures, but he made up for it with 10 rebounds in 23 foul-plagued minutes. Young scored 14 points in 24 minutes.

Benjamin and Gilbert Brown scored 12 points apiece and Ronald Ramon added 10.

"Just imagine when I have a great game," Young said. "It would bring us to another level. That just shows you how much potential we have."