Pitt Versus Indiana In Jimmy V Classic

The Jimmy V men's and women's classic matchups are are set:

Florida will be at Rutgers in the women's classic Dec. 7, while Butler meets Georgetown and Indiana faces Pittsburgh Dec. 8. The men's doubleheader games will be at 7 and 9 p.m., respectively, at Madison Square Garden in New York City.

And for the Panthers, it will be like a home game for several players with ties to the New York area. And Pitt fans most assuredly will attend in full force.

"We always try to schedule as many games as possible at the Garden,'' Pitt coach Jamie Dixon has said. "We have a lot of fans in the area, they love to go to games there, and our players love to play there.''

Here are some highlights for the four teams in the men's doubleheader:

Georgetown and Butler will make their Jimmy V Classic debut, while Indiana and Pitt each won their only other game in the event. Indiana beat North Carolina 82-73 in 1999, and the Panthers knocked off Memphis 70-51 in 2004.

The last time Pitt and Indiana played, the Panthers stomped the Hoosiers 74-52 in the second round during the 2003 NCAA Tournament. However, Indiana holds a 4-3 edge in the overall series.

Pitt and Butler both finished the season ranked in the ESPN-USA Today Top 25 and played in the NCAA Tournament this past spring. The Panthers were sixth and reached the Elite Eight, and Butler was 25th and lost a close contest to LSU in its NCAA-opener.

This is the first matchup between Butler and Georgetown with the former returning its entire team from last season's 26-6 squad led by Horizon League Player of the Year Matt Howard and Gordon Hayward, who was selected as the Newcomer of the Year in the league.