Pitt relishes the physical nature of Big East Conference play. For the better part of eight seasons, the Panthers have thrived under the unwritten rule of the league -- no blood, no foul.

But when a game is more closely officiated, the results usually are not good for the Panthers.

Listen In Listen to Pitt basketball coach Jamie Dixon's press conference yesterday

Pitt is 1-3 this season when it has 21 or more personal fouls in a game. The Panthers are 16-0 when committing 20 or fewer. In a 77-74 loss Sunday to Marquette, Pitt was whistled for 26 fouls. The Panthers had 28 fouls in losses to Wisconsin and Oklahoma State. The only game Pitt won this season with a rash of fouls was at Auburn when the Panthers committed 21 and won, 74-66.

In Pitt's three losses, the Panthers have been whistled for an average of 27.3 fouls per game. That represents 25.1 percent of all of Pitt's fouls for the season. In Pitt's other 17 games, the Panthers averaged 13.7 fouls per game.

The trend can be traced to last season as well. In 33 games, Pitt was 3-3 in games in which it had 21 or more personal fouls, including losses to Bradley, Marquette and Connecticut. The victories came against Providence, Wisconsin and Notre Dame, a double-overtime win. The past two seasons, Pitt is 4-6 in games with 21 or more fouls and 38-5 with 20 or fewer.

So, does Pitt need to do a better job of not fouling or a better job of adjusting to the way the game is being called?

"We talked about that after the first two losses," Pitt coach Jamie Dixon said. "We talked about the free throws and getting to the free-throw line. That was a big problem in the [Marquette] game, obviously. Anyone who watched the game could see that. They had 13 points in overtime and 10 were from the free-throw line. It kind of tells you where it was.

"Obviously, you don't want to do it. Sometimes it's how they're calling it. But sometimes it's defensive lapses. That's usually the case. Or it's just good offense. It could be a combination of those things. A lot of that is things we have to do better. We've addressed it all year, but it has [resurfaced]."

Marquette beat Pitt because Golden Eagles point guard Dominic James drove to the basket and drew a foul with 0.9 seconds remaining. He said afterward that he was playing the game the way it was being officiated. He understood that with any type of contact he would get to the free-throw line.

The Petersen Events Center crowd wanted to blame the officials for making (or not making) a number of the calls throughout the game, but the Panthers had plenty of opportunities to win the game before James was fouled.

Marquette was whistled for 28 fouls, but Pitt did not capitalize at the free-throw line. The Panthers were 23 for 36, including 3 for 6 in overtime. Marquette was 10 for 10 from the line in overtime and 24 for 31 for the game.

The scenario was similar against Oklahoma State. The Cowboys were called for 24 fouls, but the Panthers were 23 for 34 from the line. Oklahoma State was 32 for 38.

"I thought we'd be a little bit higher at this point," Dixon said of his team's percentage at the line. "But our guards are shooting a pretty high percentage. Free-throw percentage oftentimes is who is shooting your free throws."

Much of the fouling problem is caused by the competition, of course. Wisconsin, Oklahoma State and Marquette were the only three ranked teams Pitt has faced this season. All three are quick teams with athletes who created matchup problems.

Other Big East games won't be officiated as tightly as the Marquette game, but postseason games will be. The three officials who called the game Sunday have worked Final Fours and receive the highest profile games on the schedule. They are the types of officials Pitt will see down the line at the Big East tournament and NCAA tournament.

Dixon, whose team travels to Cincinnati tomorrow, said he told his players before the Marquette game that the officials likely would call a tight game.

"It's really been an emphasis of ours all year," Dixon said. "When we call it in practice we've been calling it real tight. We've made a concerted effort. Today we said it again, to call it tight. It's not at all a surprise to them."