DENVER -- Players have described some of Jamie Dixon's practices as brutally physical. They have been known to scrap, bleed and bruise during the taxing workouts, which Dixon believes is one of the biggest reasons for Pitt's success.

But if the Panthers thought their practices were physical they never saw one of Michigan State's after the Spartans turn in an uninspired effort. Michigan State coach Tom Izzo has been known on an occasion to put his players in shoulder pads and helmets and practice basketball football-style.

"Every day in practice it's a war," Michigan State senior guard Drew Neitzel said. "It's a grind every day in practice. We beat up on each other. That carries over to the games as far as being physical and outworking teams."

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Scouting report

• Matchup: Pitt (27-9) vs. Michigan State (26-8), 9:10 p.m. today, Pepsi Center, Denver.
• TV, Radio, Internet: KDKA, WWSW-FM (94.5), WBGG-AM (970), www.pittsburghpanthers.com.
• Pitt: Coming off an 82-63 victory against Oral Roberts in the first round of the NCAA tournament. ... Junior G Levance Fields led the Panthers with 23 points. ... Senior G Keith Benjamin had a career-high nine rebounds. ... Trying to advance to the Sweet 16 for the fifth time in the past seven seasons.
• Michigan State: Coming off 72-61 victory against Temple in the first round. ... Sophomore F Raymar Morgan led the Spartans with 15 points. ... Senior G Drew Neitzel, the team's second-leading scorer, was 1 for 8 from 3-point range and had five points. ... Has committed 12 or fewer turnovers in eight of the past nine games.
• Hidden stat: Michigan State is 8-4 in NCAA second-round games, and the Spartans have won six of their past seven.

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Pitt and Michigan State were built with the same foundation. Izzo and Dixon base their programs around toughness, defense and rebounding. It is an approach that has paid big dividends for the teams that will meet tonight in a much-anticipated NCAA second-round game at the Pepsi Center.

Under Izzo, Michigan State has won a national championship and played in four Final Fours. The Spartans are playing in their 11th consecutive NCAA tournament.

Pitt is playing in its seventh consecutive NCAA tournament, and with a victory against the Spartans, will advance to the Sweet 16 for the fifth time in that span.

"You can't be afraid to get hit," Michigan State junior guard Travis Walton said. "You've got to be able to hit somebody else and take a hit at the same time. That's Michigan State basketball, and that's pretty much Pittsburgh basketball, too. There isn't anyone on their team or anyone on our team who is afraid to get hit, you know, with an elbow or a bump. Anything goes. That's physical basketball. That's the way we play, and that's the way they play."

Dixon has maintained the same approach that former coach Ben Howland implemented when Howland took over the program in 1998.

"Ben and I used to talk a little bit," Izzo said. "I think we had similar philosophies. The defense had to be important, toughness. If you look at UCLA, Pittsburgh and Michigan State, in a lot of respects there are a lot of similarities. You look at the fastbreaking. You look at the plays. You look at the strength factor. The philosophy is the same."

One of the first people Dixon reached out to when he was appointed coach at Pitt in 2004 was Izzo. Dixon said yesterday that Izzo has helped shape his coaching philosophy.

"I think everyone knows how much respect we have for their program and the friendship that I have with coach Izzo," Dixon said. "We've copied a lot of things that they've done over the years -- plays, sets, different philosophies. I don't mind saying that. I guess that's a sign of respect."

Rebounding and defense are the two most important things to each program. In Izzo's 13 seasons as head coach, the Spartans have led the Big Ten Conference in rebounding margin nine times. When Michigan State went to three consecutive Final Fours from 1999-2001, the Spartans were second, first and first in NCAA Division I in rebounding.

When Michigan State reached the Final Four again in 2005, the Spartans were eighth in Division I in rebounding. They are eighth this season entering the game tonight and are 23-4 when outrebounding their opponent. Pitt has become one of the dominant rebounding teams in Division I under Dixon. In his first five seasons, the Panthers have been among the top 10 rebounding teams twice.

"We feel like we're tough and physical," Pitt senior Keith Benjamin said. "But this year we feel like we added a lot more to just being tough and physical. We have a skill set. We have a lot of things we can do outside of being tough and physical. But [being physical] is our bread and butter. That's how we play. That's how we approach every game. We try to do the little things to help us win."

Dixon expects the game to low-scoring and typical of each team's style of play.

"It's just going to become more of a half-court game in these tournament games," Dixon said. "It's not going to be up and down because of the caliber of play. They're not going to give up transition baskets. We're not going to give up transition baskets. That's just the challenge we face. I doubt they're going to back down, and I know we're not going to back down. That's probably been indicative of our programs over the years."