Big men for Pitt, Butler renew rivalry
Pittsburgh center Gary McGhee pulls down a rebound under pressure from UNC-Asheville forward Quinard Jackson during the first half of a Southeast Regional second-round game. (Mar. 17, 2011) Credit: AP
WASHINGTON -- Maybe the past is prologue, but basketball players must move on. Butler senior Matt Howard, when he awoke Friday morning, was not replaying his winning basket against Old Dominion Thursday afternoon in the last split second. "I was thinking about breakfast," he said.
Nor was Pitt senior Gary McGhee, whose team will face Howard's in Saturday night's NCAA Tournament Southeast Regional, mulling four years of Indiana high school showdowns against Howard's school; they were conference foes at Connersville and Highland of Andersonville, respectively.
They first met as high school freshmen. "He was a slim kid," McGhee said. "I was kind of big, a kind of chunky kid. And now we're different players, both improved tremendously. So it's going to be different."
Howard is still the more gangly, at 6-8, 230. McGhee, through still hulking at 6-11, 250, "transformed my body" with the Pitt training crew with considerable running and weight work.
"I always remember him being big and really strong," said Howard, "and he's gotten bigger and stronger."
To a great extent, the two embody their current teams. Howard, like mid-major Butler (24-9), is sneaky good, pulling off big surprises. McGhee is how-do-you-stop-him imposing for No. 1 seed Pitt (28-5).
Howard, like Butler, has respect but hardly is expected to enjoy another magical ride to the championship final. "I highly doubt that fear us at all," he said. "But if we have to prove ourselves all over again, that's fine."
McGhee, like Pitt, generates great expectations. "Everyone wants to see the upset," he said, "but we just want to play our game, and we know what we have to do." He is the most obvious power player on what Howard calls a "very big, very physical team; they hang their hat on that. Gary does what they want him to do really well. He rebounds and sets really good screens and he's ready [to score] if they call on him."
Both are surrounded by plenty of basketball know-how and skill. Clearly, this isn't high school anymore, and both want to keep moving on.
