PITTSBURGH — Like most college basketball programs, Pittsburgh has a different game day schedule depending on whether the Panthers are playing at home or on the road.

Except, that is, when the team travels to Madison Square Garden.

On those times, coach Jamie Dixon sticks to the itinerary typically used for games at the Petersen Events Center. It’s something Dixon started doing a few years ago to help ease any sense of anxiety his players might have in stepping onto the floor at the basketball mecca.

Oh, and to send a message that the Garden — as much as any road venue can be — is Pitt’s house too.

“Our mentality over the years has been to treat it like a second home,” Dixon said. “That’s why we schedule the games, the tournaments that we’re in. We get in every one possible. We’ve played almost 50 games there the last 10 years.”

A tradition that will continue even after the 17th-ranked Panthers (24-7) prepare to play in their final Big East tournament. Pitt is the fourth seed after finishing 12-6 in conference play and earned double-bye to the quarterfinals on Thursday.

Even with a couple days to rest, the Panthers left for Manhattan on Monday afternoon. The extra time gives his players a chance to get settled and some — like senior guard and Brooklyn native Tray Woodall — to enjoy a family reunion of sorts. The same goes for Dixon, who often has more than a dozen extended family members sitting behind the bench for as long as his team sticks around.

Though Pitt will continue to play in early season games in New York, Dixon allows the last trip to one of college basketball’s marquee events is bittersweet. While the Panthers have been good in the Garden, the Garden has also been good to them.

Pitt is 30-15 there over the last 13 years, starting with a spirited run to the Big East championship game in 2001 that put the Panthers back on the map.

“I think it was really catapulted us going forward,” said Dixon, an assistant under Ben Howland at the time. “I think we’d won three games in Big East tournament history before that and we won three games that year and from that point on we started winning games in the regular season and since then we’ve had the best record in the conference.”