For one winter's afternoon at the snow-capped Petersen Events Center, Pitt basketball was Pitt basketball again. And it was wonderful to watch.
Even better to experience to the fullest of one's senses.
"This game ... you could just feel it, man," Mike Young, the Panthers' sophomore center, would observe later.
The verb couldn't have been better chosen. You could feel it.
Just like you used to.
You could feel the momentum, with shot after shot falling, building at both ends.
You could feel the opponent, No. 8 Notre Dame, buckling at least a bit.
You could feel the Oakland Zoo -- and I mean this one literally, given my vantage point on the adjacent press row -- bouncing bordering on throbbing, and this time it wasn't with the requisite fan support but in genuine anticipation.
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