With foul trouble mounting and a substitution situation looming, West Virginia coach Bob Huggins walked the sideline in the first half of Monday night's contest against Pitt. Two of his best players had two fouls apiece, and he was looking for a combination of players who could pull his team through a rough stretch.

Huggins eyed his seated reserves, staring at them one by one for a couple of awkward moments before turning his attention back to the game without making a change.

Pitt coach Jamie Dixon, meanwhile, was in the same predicament. Starters DeJuan Blair and Levance Fields each picked up two early fouls and had to sit for long periods in the first half.

But Dixon didn't hesitate when he was faced with the foul dilemma. He simply pointed to his reserves and told them enter the game. And as they have all season, the substitutes picked up the slack.

"We're not thinking about surviving when we go in," sophomore reserve Brad Wanamaker said. "We're just thinking about playing. Everyone on this team has confidence that they can play. When [the starters] went out, we wanted to represent and show that we can play without them."

It's a luxury that not many other Big East coaches enjoy, and it's one of the big reasons the Panthers are competing for a conference championship.

Pitt's bench scored almost twice as many points as the West Virginia bench and continued a season-long theme. The Panthers' reserves have out-performed their counterparts in all but a handful of games.

Pitt has played 11 Big East games, and the reserves have outscored their counterparts nine times. Only one team -- South Florida -- had more production off the bench than the Panthers.

Wanamaker played 25 minutes and scored six points against West Virginia. Ashton Gibbs played 17 minutes and contributed seven points and Gilbert Brown scored two points in 13 minutes.

Dixon also used freshman Nasir Robinson to eat up nine minutes and sophomore Gary McGhee for two minutes.

Huggins, by contrast, played four reserves but only received eight points.

"Obviously, in the first half, we had to go long stretches without DeJuan and Levance on the court, and I was really proud of how we handled that," Dixon said. "We got great contributions from our bench. Our depth was really beneficial for us tonight."

Pitt has three reserves who average nearly five points apiece or more per game.

Gibbs is the top 3-point shooter in the conference, having made 26 of his 52 attempts (50 percent) from behind the 3-point arc. He is averaging 4.8 points overall.

Brown, who was supposed to be the top reserve, has been a steady, if unspectacular, contributor. He is averaging 5.4 points and 3.4 rebounds per game.

But the player who is emerging as the top sixth man in the league is Wanamaker, who has been playing the best basketball of his short career in recent weeks. Wanamaker, who is averaging 7.9 points per game in Big East play (6.0 overall), has made 19 of his past 30 shots from the field and 9 of his past 15 3-point attempts. He is second only to Gibbs in 3-point shooting (46.3 percent) on the team.

"My confidence is sky high right now," Wanamaker said. "When I see the ball going in the way it is now, that just makes me want to get to the gym every day and work harder."

He said the role of the reserves will be important as the NCAA tournament approaches. Officiating has always been a topic of conversation for Big East teams as they prepare for a different style in NCAA play, and the bench players must be ready to step up when called upon.

"Our role is very key," Wanamaker said. "We want to come in and play well when the starters get in foul trouble. We always have to make sure we're ready."