Pitt's home away from home is becoming less hospitable.
The Panthers have lost their past two games at Madison Square Garden in heartbreaking fashion, falling to St. John's and Connecticut on last-second baskets.
The No. 15 Panthers (8-1) can reclaim their Garden swagger when they reunite with frequent rival Oklahoma State (6-2) at 2:30 p.m. today as part of a doubleheader in New York. No. 7 Duke plays Washington in the opener.
"It's always exciting going to play at the Garden," forward Nasir Robinson said. "But we're just focusing on the win right now."
Pitt, riding a six-game winning streak, is 26-13 at the Garden since 2000, but the Panthers have painful memories from their most recent trips to the "World's Most Famous Arena."
Dwight Hardy hit a controversial last-second baseline layup -- did he step out of bounds⢠-- to give St. John's a 60-59 victory Feb. 19, and Kemba Walker sank a buzzer-beating 20-foot step-back jumper in Pitt's 76-74 loss to eventual national champion Connecticut in the Big East Tournament quarterfinals.
The losses overshadowed outstanding efforts by Ashton Gibbs, who scored 26 points against St. John's and 27 against Connecticut -- the two most prolific games of his Pitt career March 10.
Sophomore forward J.J. Moore -- like Gibbs a New York native -- will play his first meaningful college minutes at the Garden today. He totaled four minutes in Pitt's four games there last season.
"Just the feel and having your family and friends coming there, it's a good feeling," he said. "Even though it's in New York, you see a lot of Pitt fans."
Oklahoma State will be playing its third game at Madison Square Garden in the past 17 days, but this trip won't be as emotional as its last visit to New York. The Cowboys lost to Stanford and Virginia Tech in the NIT Season Tip-Off in the wake of the Nov. 17 plane crash that killed women's coach Kurt Budke and assistant Miranda Serna.
Oklahoma State, which meets Pitt for the fifth time in the past seven-plus seasons, overcame a 12-point, second-half deficit to win at Missouri State, 72-67, on Wednesday. Freshman Le'Bryan Nash, a 6-foot-8, 230-pound forward, had 19 points and eight rebounds as coach Travis Ford's Cowboys snapped a 12-game road losing streak.
Nash, a five-star recruit from Dallas, is averaging a team-high 12.6 points and is a top-20 pick in draftexpress.com's 2012 NBA mock draft.
"There are freshmen, and there are guys that aren't built like freshmen," Pitt coach Jamie Dixon said. "He's one of those guys."
Additional Information:Panthers game day
vs. OKLAHOMA STATE
2:30 p.m. today, Madison Square Garden, New York
TV/radio: ESPN2/KDKA-FM (93.7), Pitt Radio Network
Records: Oklahoma State 6-2, Pitt 8-1
Series: Pitt leads, 5-4
Favorite: Pitt by 6
Of note: No. 15 Pitt has dropped three in a row at the Garden only once in the past decade.
Players to watch
Oklahoma State: Markel Brown, So., G -- The former Mr. Basketball in Louisiana leads the Cowboys in rebounds, steals and assists.
Pitt: Nasir Robinson, Sr., F -- He's averaging 17.5 points and 13.0 rebounds in the past two games.
