The Pittsburgh Panthers just walked off a dejected group, and for good reason.

The Xavier Musketeers are playing the perfect game. In taking an eight-point lead, Xavier has taken it to Pittsburgh’s biggest and best players.

Sam Young is 5-for-8 from the field and leads Pittsburgh with 11 points but the rest of the No. 1 seed is a collective 6-for-23 and DeJuan Blair is just 1-for-6 and has just two points and four rebounds.

Xavier has outrebounded their last 24 opponents and they’re on their way to No. 25, as they lead 23-16 on the glass.

Xavier leads by eight despite shooting just 14-for-35 . Derrick Brown has brought his ‘A’ game, with a thunderous dunk midway through the half. Brown has been able to pick his spots and drive the lane. C.J. Anderson has shown his athleticism with a couple of spinning layups.

In short, if the Muskies play like that for another 20 minutes, they’ll be back to the Elite 8 for a second straight year.