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ORLANDO, Fla. -- Unselfish offence, tenacious defence. When Pittsburgh plays like it did in routing Colorado 77-48 in the South Regional on Thursday, the ninth-seeded Panthers think they are capable of competing with anyone. It was difficult to argue against that after Talib Zanna scored 16 of his 18 points in the opening half and Pitt built a 28-point lead. However, coach Jamie Dixon and his players know they will have to be even better to go deeper in the NCAA tournament. "Were a better team now than we were earlier in the year," Dixon said. "Thats what you hope to be." The Panthers (26-9) shot 51 per cent from the field and played one of their best games of the season defensively in advancing to a third-round matchup Saturday against either No. 1 seed Florida or No. 16 seed Albany. Dixon said the Panthers have been feeling a lot better about themselves since winning two of three games in last weeks Atlantic Coast Conference tournament, including a quarterfinal victory over North Carolina. "I think last week opened our eyes," Dixon said. "We didnt win the tournament, but we thought we could have." Colorado (23-12) was eager to make amends for an early exit from the tournament a year ago, but had no answers for the 6-foot-9 Zanna. The Pitt centre made six of seven shots in the first half, and the Panthers didnt have any difficulty finishing off the overwhelmed Buffaloes. "Weve got to take care of the ball better and weve got to guard better and weve got to rebound better," Colorado coach Tad Boyle said. "We didnt do any of those things today. I dont know what Colorado team it was." Josh Scott led the Buffaloes with 14 points, however Colorado couldnt overcome a subpar performance from Askia Booker, who missed his first seven shots and didnt score from the field until 4 minutes into the second half. Cameron Wright had 11 points and Lamar Patterson finished with 10 for Pitt, which moved from the Big East to the ACC this season, where it finished fifth. Zanna, who had a monster game in the ACC tournament with 19 points and 21 rebounds against North Carolina, didnt attempt a shot in the second half, when Dixon gave his starters plenty of rest. Michael Young had nine points in 21 minutes and no regular played more than 30. "I was just trying to be patient. I know if Im open, the ball is going to come to me," said Zanna, a senior from Kaduna, Nigeria. "I was wide open just trying to run the floor, and I was just having wide-open layups." Colorado, whose 23 wins are the second-most in school history, entered the game coming off one of their worst offensive performances of the season in 20-point loss to Arizona in the Pac-12 tournament. The Buffaloes were limited to a season-low 15 field goals while shooting 29 per cent from the field with Scott finishing with a season-low four points and two rebounds. It didnt get any better against Pitt, which is in the NCAA tournament for the 10th time in 11 seasons under Dixon. The Panthers lost in the second round to Wichita State a year ago and will be looking for their first trip to the round of 16 since 2009. "They came out from the start and got on us early and we werent able to recover," Colorados Xavier Johnson said. "No one wants to go out like that, so it hurts. But that will motivate us to get better in the off-season." Colorado shot 29.4 per cent from the field in the opening half, with Booker missing all four of his attempts from the field and being limited to two free throws. Scott had five points on 2-for-3 shooting, but an even bigger indication of the teams troubles: the Buffaloes had zero assists and 10 turnovers. Pitt, meanwhile, matched its point total for its previous game, a 51-48 loss to Virginia in the semifinals of last weeks ACC tournament. The Panthers had 13 assists on 18 baskets in the first 20 minutes, and they outscored Colorado 12-2 in points off turnovers in building the 28-point halftime lead. Booker, like Scott averaging 14 points per game, finished with six on 2-for-9 shooting. Johnson scored 11 points for the Buffaloes, who made a 3-pointer at the buzzer to avoid finishing with fewer points than Pitt scored in the opening half alone. "You go in at halftime down 28, theres not a lot you can say to your guys positively, other than the fact that we had to come out and compete -- and you shouldnt have to ask our guys to do that," Boyle said. "We never gave up. These guys kept battling. It just wasnt our day," he added. "You look at every statistical category you want to. When you have five assists and 17 turnovers, its hard." The 29-point defeat was the largest-ever for the Buffaloes in the NCAA tournament. The previous low point was a 73-46 loss to eventual national champion Cincinnati in 1962. Corey Kluber Jersey .40 metres at the Drake Relays. Drouin, from Corunna, Ont., bested his own record of 2.38 metres set in Aug. Lonnie Chisenhall Jersey . The club announced Friday that Mauro Biello will be kept on as an assistant to coach Jesse Marsch when the Impact join the MLS in 2012. http://www.indiansteamproshop.com/Indians-Cody-Allen-Kids-Jersey/ . - Chicago Bears general manager Phil Emery was so busy in free agency he didnt mind having a few extra weeks to prepare for the draft. Edwin Encarnacion Jersey . -- The Florida Gators are first yet again this season. Tyler Naquin Jersey .com) - The Golden State Warriors have started another winning streak and theyll try to pad it Tuesday night when they head to Staples Center to face the Los Angeles Lakers.MOSCOW - Viktor Tikhonov, the Soviet hockey coach whose teams won three Olympic gold medals but fell to the United States in the Miracle on Ice, died after a long illness. He was 84.Russias Kontinental Hockey League said early Monday that Tikhonov died during the night. He had been receiving treatment at home for an undisclosed illness that had left him unable to walk in recent weeks.The entire global hockey community has lost a great coach, Vladislav Tretiak, who played goalie for Tikhonovs Soviet team and now heads the Russian Hockey Federation, told Russias R-Sport news agency.He devoted his entire life to hockey until the last second. Even when I was with him in hospital, we were discussing what needed to be done and how, in order to raise the Russian national team to the very highest level.Russian President Vladimir Putin expressed condolences to Tikhonovs family, the Kremlin said. The Russian Sports Ministry called his death an irreplaceable loss for hockey fans worldwide.While a successful player, winning four Soviet titles as a defenceman, Tikhonov came into his own during 14 years in charge of the Soviet national team.Under Tikhonov, the Soviet Big Red Machine was a powerhouse, although it had to settle for the silver medal at the 1980 Olympics in Lake Placid after the stunning defeat to the United States.Tikhonovs teams wentt on to win Olympic gold in 1984 and 1988, and he took the post-Soviet Unified Team to another gold at the 1992 Games.dddddddddddd He also led the Soviet team to eight world championship titles.An authoritarian leader with a taste for intense training sessions, Tikhonov used the Soviet political system to control his players and was known to cut star players from the team for international tournaments if he feared they might defect to the West.Tikhonovs funeral will take place Thursday with a memorial service at CSKA Moscow, the club he coached to 14 national championships, Russian media reported.Tikhonov remained an active coach until 2004, when he stepped down from the Russian national team aged 73 after an unsuccessful comeback. He continued to shape Russian hockey as part of the management of CSKA and the Russian Hockey Federation until this year.In recent years, Tikhonov provided guidance to his grandson, also named Viktor Tikhonov, a former player for the Phoenix Coyotes.On Monday, Viktor Tikhonov Jr. scored two goals and had an assist as his KHL team SKA St. Petersburg lost 5-3 to CSKA.Were in mourning, weve lost a great man, CSKA coach Dmitry Kvartalnov told local media.Tikhonovs only son Vasily, who spent three years as assistant coach with the San Jose Sharks, died last year in a fall at his Moscow apartment. ' ' '