EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. - His body is wiry and his face has a youthful quality and smile. Oklahoma State point guard John Lucas doesn't look very tough.

Don't be fooled.

Lucas has a certain toughness that developed while growing up as the son of an NBA star with a substance-abuse problem, and was further tempered while dealing with the recent tragedy at Baylor that left a teammate dead.

"Me going through that made me mentally tough - tough knowing that if I get beat down, I know I am always going to get back up," Lucas said Wednesday. "I know how it feels to be on the bottom. I know how it feels to be put down."

Lucas transferred to Oklahoma State in the wake of the Baylor scandal that followed the murder of Patrick Dennehy and the firing of coach Dave Bliss. Lucas averaged 15.3 points and 4.6 assists this season.

The second-seeded Cowboys (29-3) will try to ride Lucas' resolve tonight when they face third-seeded Pittsburgh (31-4) in the tip-off of the East Rutherford Regional semifinals at the Continental Airlines Arena.

St. Joseph's (29-1) will get a chance to stick it to CBS analyst Billy Packer for a third time in the tournament when the top-seeded Hawks take on fourth-seeded Wake Forest (21-9) - Packer's alma mater - in the nightcap.

While the St. Joseph's-Wake Forest game has much of the hype because of Packer's questioning of the Hawks' No. 1 seed and coach Phil Martelli's biting response, the Pitt-Oklahoma State game is just as good.

The Panthers of the Big East are a street-tough group that prides itself on defense. Pittsburgh finished second in the country, yielding 56.2 points a game.

Eddie Sutton's Cowboys also can play defense, but are just as good on offense. Their 78.3 average is 19th in the country.

"It's going to be a brawl," Pittsburgh senior guard Julius Page said. "We're used to that, practicing everyday is almost a bloodbath."

Lucas is ready for the fight. He had plenty in high school when his father, former Maryland and NBA player and coach John Lucas, was having problems.

Everyday the younger Lucas walked into school, his fellow students didn't spare his feelings.

"You're dad's a crack head!" and "You're a drug baby!" Lucas recalled kids saying to him.

Lucas occasionally still hears the taunts. He shuts them up by playing hard.

"I realized a lot of people who were picking on me, their parents also go through the same problems as my parent, but my dad was an NBA player out in the public," Lucas said.

The older Lucas now helps people with substance abuse problems.

"My dad didn't hide anything from us," Lucas said. "When I was young, I knew what was going on, but I didn't know what was going on. I always told him: 'Don't worry dad, I am always going to take care of you,'" Lucas recalled. "I was like 3 or 4."

Lucas also has been the player who gets the Cowboys up and down the court, something Pittsburgh will try to stop with its defense.

"We both play physical," said Lucas, who didn't have to sit out a year because of the circumstances surrounding the scandal. "You never know how the game will turn out. It may be a war. People may have busted lips. Anything is possible."