SAN JOSE, Calif. -- When Mike Cook transferred from East Carolina to Pitt in the summer of 2005, there was the hope that he could provide the Panthers with some much-needed offense from the small forward position.

After an up-and-down regular season, Cook is starting to play like the player the coaches hoped he would be when he signed.

In three games at the Big East tournament and the first two of the NCAA tournament, Cook is shooting 47.5 percent (19 for 40) from the field and is averaging 11.5 points per game.

"I'm feeling comfortable right now," Cook said. "It was sort of frustrating for me throughout the year. Once the Big East tournament started, I just started playing loose, started rebounding more. I wanted to find other ways to make an impact on the game. It's just me being comfortable in my role, not being frustrated. I just wanted to find ways to help the team win."

Cook has affected the game in more ways than his scoring. He has become a legitimate 3-point threat and one of the team's top rebounders.

In five postseason games, Cook has made 5 of 6 attempts from behind the 3-point arc and is averaging 5.4 rebounds a game. In the regular season, he made 17 of 39 3-point attempts and averaged a little more than three rebounds per game.

'Not true'

UCLA coach Ben Howland denied that he thought Pitt could not sustain the success he started. Pitt coach Jamie Dixon told the Post-Gazette last month that Howland did not think the successful seasons he enjoyed as head coach could be continued over the long haul.

"To be honest, Ben didn't think we could sustain it," Dixon said. "He took less money to go to another job, what many people would consider a better job. I've always seen more in [Pitt] than other people did. I have higher expectations than anybody for this job. I know no one thought we could do what we're doing."

Howland said he never uttered anything like that to Dixon or anyone else.

"That's not true," Howland said yesterday. "I was offered other jobs after my second year and third year that were actually very good jobs out here in the West. I won't go into naming them, but you can confirm that with Steve Pederson if you like. So that's the answer to that question."

Home sweet home

UCLA is supposed to have the advantage tonight because it is playing in its home state. But Big East teams always have fared well in the West Region.

Connecticut won the national championship in 1999 and 2004 out of the Phoenix regional. Georgetown won the title in 1984 out of Los Angeles. Seton Hall advanced to the championship in 1989 out of Denver. And St. John's went to the Final Four in 1985 out of Denver.

Performing well so far away from home is not coincidental. Coaches enjoy not having the distractions of playing close to home.

"We'll benefit more by not having a whole bunch of Pitt fans, being worried about all the madness of getting tickets for family members and all that stuff," Pitt junior Keith Benjamin said.

"It's just us out here."