Three times in the first half of the game Sunday, a Pitt player stepped to the free-throw line after getting fouled in the act of shooting. And all three times that player missed both free throws.

The Panthers missed more free throws than they made in the first half (7 for 15) of their 90-67 victory against the Red Storm. They improved in the second half to finish the game 14 for 23, but the missed opportunities for points allowed St. John's to remain in the game at halftime.

It has been hard to identify a weakness in No. 1 Pitt through the first 15 contests, but free-throw shooting continues to be a problem. It especially could be troublesome when the Panthers find themselves in a tight game.

That is certain to happen when Pitt gets into the meat of its Big East Conference schedule in the next couple of weeks.

"That's what we'll need down the stretch," said sophomore center DeJuan Blair, who is shooting 60.3 percent from the line. "I hate to use this [as an example], but if you watched Memphis last year they missed some free throws, and they didn't get it done in the national championship. With the team we have and the depth we have ??? I think we'll get fouled a lot because of the way we rebound and crash the boards. Free throws will come in handy. If we made our free throws we probably would have scored 100, so we have to work on that."

Pitt is shooting 66.3 percent from the line for the season, which ranks 10th in the 16-team Big East. But free-throw shooting is not at the top of the list of things that keeps coach Jamie Dixon up at night.

"I don't think we're going to lead the country in free-throw shooting," Dixon said. "You have to understand who you are. Free throws are an interesting thing. You don't talk about them until they get you, unless you're here and [the media] has to find something to talk about.

"You want to do everything perfect. It's not one our best things we do, but we have good free-throw shooters down the stretch. That's always been our strength."

After Pitt beat Georgetown Jan. 3 and before the team got on the bus for the ride back to Pittsburgh, Washington Wizards guard Juan Dixon took his brother Jermaine Dixon into the back gym at the Verizon Center for some one-on-one tutelage.

Juan Dixon had just watched his brother struggle with his shooting as Jermaine Dixon was 1 for 7 from the field and 0 for 5 from 3-point range, which dropped his season average from behind the arc to 16.3 percent.

"He's a 3-point shooter," said Jermaine Dixon, who is Pitt's starting shooting guard. "He said don't worry about missing shots. But he was like, 'It's getting kind of embarrassing. You have to start knocking them down.'??"

Jermaine Dixon said Juan Dixon identified a glitch in his shooting motion, which he believed helped him score a career-high 17 points in the victory against St. John's.

"He told me I kept dropping my follow-through after my shots," Jermaine Dixon said. "He was like, 'When y'all leaving?' He said it would be real quick. We went back there and went hard for about 10 minutes. We went harder than we go in practice.

"Ever since I got back here, me, Levance [Fields] and coach [Brandin] Knight have been back here every day, twice a day. It's helping me out a lot. I'm more confident in my shot. It's building confidence. We just need repetition."

Jamie Dixon always has said that a high number of steals was not necessarily indicative of playing good defense, but the Panthers are currently on pace to set a record for steals during the Dixon\Ben Howland era.

Pitt, which had 13 steals against St. John's, is averaging 8.33 per game. The most in any of the past 10 seasons is 8.2 per game in 2002-03.

"We're doing a few things more consistently than we may have done in the past, which will get us more steals," said Dixon, who referenced his players' improvement in handling ball screens and double-teaming in the post. "It's by design in most cases. We have to be on the same page. That's when you get opportunities for some steals and transition buckets."

Jermaine Dixon had no qualms saying which team he will be rooting for in Sunday's AFC championship game. A Baltimore native, he is pulling hard for the Ravens to beat the Steelers.

"Oh yeah, you know I'm going with the Ravens," he said. "I've been talking trash to all of the Pittsburgh fans."

When asked who his favorite player was, Dixon said: "Ray Lewis. Ed Reed. I like everybody. I've even started liking [Joe] Flacco. I love them all."

The Associated Press and ESPN\USA Today coaches' polls were released yesterday afternoon and Pitt remained at the top of both. The Panthers received 70 of a possible 72 first-place votes in the AP poll, the same as last week, and 29 of a possible 31 first-place votes in the coaches' poll. The Panthers had 30 first-place votes in the coaches' poll last week.

Wake Forest received the other first-place votes.