The Pitt Panthers rediscovered their shooting touch Wednesday in a victory against Providence, but coach Jamie Dixon knows his team cannot rely on outside shooting alone to win every game. Part of Pitt's winning formula over the years has been scoring off offensive rebounding.

That inside production has not been as strong as in recent seasons, but the Panthers had one of their better games in that regard against the Friars and hope to continue the trend in the second half of the Big East Conference schedule.

The Panthers had 14 offensive rebounds and 18 second-chance points against Providence. That is nowhere near the production the team enjoyed when DeJaun Blair and Chevy Troutman patrolled the paint, but it was markedly better than previous games.

"One of the things we've talked about is we had high offensive rebound numbers, but we haven't converted them into baskets," Dixon said. "That's one thing we've been working on. We've been working with guys on finishing and getting contact and getting to the foul line. That's something we're trying to get better at. Our numbers, offensive rebounding-wise, have been pretty good, but I don't know that we've had the normal production that comes with it as far as points. That's been a big emphasis this week."

Lamar Patterson led Pitt with four offensive rebounds Wednesday night and got the Panthers a lead early with a few aggressive plays that kept possessions alive. He was joined by Nasir Robinson, Talib Zanna and Dante Taylor, who each added two offensive rebounds apiece.

"We just wanted to attack the glass," Robinson said. "Coach always preaches it every game. That's what I did and my teammates did. We got to the weak side. We knew where the ball was going to go and we got the offensive rebounds."

The Panthers have to continue to convert their second chances today against Georgetown if they want to keep that winning feeling. The No. 9 Hoyas are among the top defensive teams in Division I and have held two of their past three opponents to 50 points or fewer.

The Hoyas are giving up just 59.4 points per game and opponents are shooting 39.3 percent.

"Their size stands out," Dixon said. "They can play man and zone and their length on the outside is impressive. And they're bigger and more physical than they have been. I'm amazed at how physical they are. They've always been good, but they have more size and more physical than they have been in the past."

The defensive posture has the Hoyas tied for second place in the conference standings. They won their most recent game against Rutgers last week when they shot 29 percent from the field. That sounds a lot like the way Pitt used to win games when Dixon was a rookie head coach in 2003-04.

"We are bigger, we are more physical and we are more versatile," Georgetown coach John Thompson III said. "We have the pieces, the people and the attentiveness to go along with the physical attributes."

Georgetown has won three consecutive games after losing two in a row to West Virginia and Cincinnati. If there is one concern for the Hoyas it is their offense, which has been far from consistent. They have scored more than 70 points only three times against Big East foes.

"We're still growing," Thompson said. "We still have a lot of room for improvement."

For the Panthers, there is plenty of room for improvement as well. They got the monkey off their backs by picking up that elusive first Big East win. Now the quest to make a move upward in the standings is next.

"I think we have short-term memory," point guard Tray Woodall said. "We remember the last game we lost, but we're worried about the next game. Don't worry about what happened in the past because you can't change that. Worry about what you can change and that's the next game ahead."

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