PITTSBURGH - Pitt hopes it's not in for a three-peat tonight against rival West Virginia.

The No. 18 Panthers have lost twice this month to teams that rely primarily on the 3-point shot, including an 83-78 upset loss on Feb. 5 that saw WVU make 13 of 40 3-point attempts.

Notre Dame and Villanova successfully copied the Mountaineers' method of attacking one of the Big East's strongest and most inside-oriented teams, a strategy that concerns Pittsburgh coach Jamie Dixon as the season winds down.

The last thing Dixon wants is for today's Backyard Brawl rivalry to become a three-for-all.

While Pitt withstood Notre Dame's 14-of-29 3-point shooting to hold on for a 68-66 victory on Feb. 12, No. 23 Villanova went 12-of-23 from beyond in the arc in beating the Panthers 80-72 Sunday.

"Villanova played three guards, almost four," Dixon said. "They become more effective when they're making 3s and that was a big part of it. If they're not making 3s, we can do different things."

When opponents start making 3s, it forces Dixon to bench some of his taller defenders - at various times, the 6-foot-10 Chris Taft, 7-foot Aaron Gray and 6-9 Levon Kendall - to go with a smaller lineup that can include the 6-3 Antonio Graves, 6-2 Keith Benjamin and 6-1 Ronald Ramon.

Doing so improves the Panthers' own outside shooting, especially when Ramon is on the court, but takes away their ability to wear down opponents with the physical play of the 6-7 Chevon Troutman, Gray and Taft.

Troutman got into early foul trouble against Villanova and was held to nine points and five rebounds, or six points per game below his 15.0 average.

"Our strength is on the inside," Troutman said.

Pitt's defensive play has been a season-long worry to Dixon, who lost the top two defenders from last season's 31-5 team, guard-forward Jaron Brown and guard Julius Page. The Panthers were No. 2 nationally in scoring defense to slow-it-down Air Force a season ago, allowing 56.4 points per game, but had dropped to No. 26 even before giving up 80 to Villanova.

Pitt (18-5, 8-4 Big East) allows an average of 62 points, or nearly six points per game more than last season. That's a big difference considering 11 of Pitt's last 14 games were decided by eight points or fewer.

It's also why Dixon, who rarely criticizes his players publicly, said the Panthers had some breakdowns and were lacking defensively against Villanova.

Today's game begins a tough closing stretch for the Panthers, who averaged 29 victories the last three seasons but must win twice more just to get to 20. After West Virginia, which has won four of five, the Panthers play No. 17 Connecticut (18-6, 10-3) on Saturday before finishing the regular season at No. 3 Boston College (22-1, 11-1) and at Notre Dame (16-8, 8-6).

West Virginia's 204 3-pointers are the second most in the Big East to Notre Dame's 213, but the Mountaineers are only eighth in 3-point shooting percentage (.331). Pitt leads in 3-point shooting percentage (.406), but has attempted 249 fewer 3-pointers than West Virginia.

Kevin Pittsnogle led West Virginia with 27 points in the earlier decision over Pitt and is averaging 17.4 in his last five games.