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No. 17 Pittsburgh looks to remain perfect at home

Jan 26, 2008 - 2:39 PM Rutgers (9-11) at No. 17 Pittsburgh (16-3) 6:00 pm EST

PITTSBURGH (Ticker) - No. 17 Pittsburgh opens stretch of four straight Big East Conference games at home when it faces Rutgers on Saturday.

The Panthers (16-3, 4-2 Big East) bounced back from a loss at Cincinnati with a 24-point victory over St. John's on Wednesday at Madison Square Garden, where Pittsburgh is 19-8 since the 2000-01 season.

"We are nowhere near where we need to be and we know that," Panthers coach Jamie Dixon said. "We can improve as a group. We are playing four freshmen of our eight guys. I look at it as an opportunity. The learning curve is greater for freshmen."

Pittsburgh is 11-0 at home this season and 5-2 overall since starters Mike Cook and Levance Fields were injured.

Junior forward Sam Young averages 18.6 points and 6.9 rebounds to pace the Panthers. The Scarlet Knights (9-11, 1-6) are coming off their first conference win of the season, an 80-68 home victory over No. 18 Villanova on Wednesday.

Junior guard Anthony Farmer and freshman guard each scored a career-high 23 points as Rutgers posted its first victory over a ranked team in two years.

Junior forward JR Inman leads the Scarlet Knights with 14.2 points and 7.8 rebounds per game.