MINNEAPOLIS, March 26 (UPI) -- Second-seeded Pittsburgh can advance to a regional final for the first time Thursday night when it faces No. 3 Marquette in the Midwest Region of the NCAA Tournament.
Pittsburgh (28-4) has matched its best tournament run in school history, tying last year's team and the 1974 squad. The Panthers have won 11 straight games and cruised through the first two rounds, winning by a combined 46 points.
Jaron Brown scored 20 points and Brandin Knight added 17 as Pittsburgh shot 53 percent in a 74-52 victory over Indiana on Sunday. Knight added seven assists and five steals for Pittsburgh, which remained unbeaten since a 73-61 loss at Seton Hall on Feb. 15.
The Panthers, who shoot just under 64 percent at the free-throw line, made 20 of 28 at the line on Sunday. Knight, a 57 percent foul shooter, made seven of 10.
Pittsburgh Coach Ben Howland will employ Julius Page on Marquette's Dwyane Wade, Conference USA's Player of the Year. Page is one of the country's best defenders and uses his athletic 6-3 frame to stifle opponents' top players. Page held Indiana's Tom Coverdale to two field goals in seven tries on Sunday.
Knight is averaging over 11 points per game and needs three assists to reach 200 for the season for the second straight year. Page is the team's leading scorer at 12.2 points per game and three other Panthers average in double figures.
The Panthers have forced 35 turnovers in their first two NCAA games.
Marquette (25-5) got a pair of big efforts from Travis Diener in posting two close wins over Holy Cross and Missouri. Diener scored a career-high 29 points in the first round and added 26 in a second-round overtime victory over Missouri.
Freshman Steve Novak made three three-pointers as Marquette made all six shots and all six free throws in overtime in last Saturday's 101-92 triumph over Missouri. Wade scored 24 points to go with eight rebounds and seven assists.
Golden Eagles center Robert Jackson is trying to bounce back from a rough outing in which he fouled out with eight points and eight rebounds. Jackson is averaging 15.8 points and 7.4 rebounds.
Pittsburgh has won two of three meetings with Marquette, which posted a 73-62 victory in the last meeting on Jan. 17, 1975.
The winner faces Kentucky or Wisconsin on Saturday for a place in the Final Four.
