It was believed that point guard Levance Fields was Pitt's most indispensable player before he was injured in late December. That theory was squelched when the Panthers won three of five games in his absence, including a victory against then-No. 5 Georgetown last week.

The argument can be made that Pitt's most indispensable player is not Fields, leading scorer Sam Young or any of the other upperclassmen on the team. It could be argued -- and quite convincingly -- that the Panthers' most important player is a freshman.

Pitt has lost three games this season. In two of them, first-year center DeJuan Blair was mired in foul trouble and rendered ineffective.

Blair had the worst game of his college career in a 62-59 loss at Cincinnati Saturday afternoon. He scored four points and tied a season-low with three rebounds against the Bearcats. He posted such paltry statistics because he played just 22 minutes because of foul trouble.

Blair had to sit on the bench for 14 minutes in the first half after picking up two early fouls. He picked up his third a little more than a minute into the second half.

The circumstances were similar when Pitt lost at Dayton Dec. 29. In that game, Blair played 18 minutes after picking up two early fouls at the beginning of each half, forcing him to play carefully and without aggression.

"It's tough to play without the big fella down there," Young said. "It's real important to have DeJuan in there. His defensive presence is big for us. His offensive presence is big for us. It showed [Saturday night] how we played without him. We're already short-handed with him. Playing without DeJuan is tough for us."

It's easy to notice how much the Panthers miss Blair on the offensive end. He is the team's second-leading scorer with 12 points per game and the team's top offensive rebounder.

But Blair's defensive presence is just as important. Without Blair in the middle, Cincinnati post players shot 10 for 21 from the field and scored 26 points. And the Bearcats' guards found it easy to penetrate the lane, where the Panthers were forced to foul and give up points at the free-throw line.

Pitt has managed to win a few games when Blair has been in foul trouble, but teams have taken full advantage of Pitt in the post when Blair is on the bench. Blair was able to play only 25 minutes in a 79-66 victory at South Florida. Pitt found a way to win despite the fact South Florida center Kentrell Gransberry had a game-high 26 points and had 11 rebounds.

Opposing coaches are game-planning to get Blair into foul trouble. Cincinnati coach Mick Cronin said that he did it out of respect for how good a player Blair has become in such short order.

Pitt coach Jamie Dixon said Blair has to learn how to play aggressively without getting in foul trouble.

"The foul trouble, he had to play with his hands tied," Dixon said. "He had two early ones. It's something he has to learn how to avoid. Those are things he'll learn as a freshman. That's something he needs to improve on. He has to be active early and not play behind. He just has to continue to improve in that area."

Cincinnati was only the third team to better Pitt in rebounds this season. The Bearcats had the edge, 32-31. Dayton was one of the other teams to have the rebounding edge.

It was not by coincidence.

A big part of Pitt's success on the road over the years has been playing great defense and winning the physical battles under the basket. Without Blair in the lineup, Dixon has few options.

Tyrell Biggs, a 6-foot-7 power forward, usually comes on to play center, but Biggs is not the presence inside Blair is. On a few occasions, Dixon has turned to 6-10 freshman Gary McGhee, but McGhee is inexperienced and has a tendency to pick up too many fouls. He had three in three minutes played against Georgetown last week.

Encountering foul trouble on the road is not something unforeseen. Dixon knows that home teams get the majority of questionable calls.

That's why it is important for Blair to learn to play without fouling so much, or for the Panthers to learn how to play better without him.