From the beginning of the season, Pitt coach Jamie Dixon never wanted his team's youth and inexperience to be an excuse. When the team came back from its three-day holiday break, Dixon went one step further and unofficially stripped his rather large group of freshmen of their class distinction.

"The freshmen aren't freshmen anymore," Dixon said Saturday after Pitt upset No. 5 Syracuse in the Carrier Dome. "I declared them sophomores over the break. I took that away from them. I advanced them a year."

It was another subtle reminder that his young players have to perform beyond their years if the Panthers are going to compete well in Big East Conference play. And two games into the conference schedule some of the young players are heeding their coach's advice and growing up in a hurry.

True freshman center Dante Taylor, Pitt's first McDonald's All-American in 21 years, might finally be emerging as an impact player. He scored 10 points and grabbed eight rebounds against Syracuse.

Taylor has played more minutes than starting center junior Gary McGhee in the first two Big East games. McGhee, who has not scored in double figures in the past seven games, has watched Dixon give the most meaningful minutes to the highly acclaimed Taylor.

When the Panthers were in a tussle with DePaul with 6 1/2 minutes remaining, Dixon inserted Taylor into the game for McGhee and left him in for the remainder of the contest.

Dixon did the same thing against Syracuse. Taylor entered the game with a little more than six minutes remaining and McGhee did not play again. (Taylor was replaced with two minutes left by guard Travon Woodall because Dixon wanted a smaller lineup for foul shooting purposes).

Taylor figures to play a major role in tonight's nationally televised game against Cincinnati. The Bearcats are a strong rebounding team and feature sophomore forward Yancey Gates, who is averaging 10.7 points and 6.3 rebounds per game.

Woodall, a redshirt freshman, lost his starting job when Jermaine Dixon returned from a foot injury, and has adapted well to his new role. Woodall made two big plays to help the Panthers top the Orange Saturday.

With Pitt clinging to a 45-42 lead with 12 minutes remaining, Woodall blocked a Scoop Jardine layup attempt after he turned the ball over. A few minutes later with Pitt still clinging to a three-point lead, Woodall made a 3-pointer to boost the lead to six. That ignited a 12-3 run that put the game out of reach.

Woodall is still having a problem with turnovers, but he continues to lead the team in assists.

"This is a very coachable group," Dixon said. "You can look at it two ways. You can look at it as coaching and you can improve. Or you can look at it as criticism and you don't improve. They're young, but we don't use that word."

Sophomore guard Ashton Gibbs has played well beyond his years from the beginning of the season. Gibbs, the team's leading scorer who is averaging 17.4 points per game, only played a few minutes a game last season as a reserve. He was singled out by Dixon after the Syracuse game for becoming a complete player.

"The guy who stands out is Ashton," Dixon said. "He takes coaching to heart. He doesn't take it as criticism. Here is a guy who was not a good defender last year. He has become a good defender. He was not a good rebounder at the beginning of the year. Now he's getting seven or eight consistently. That's a big step."

Gibbs had eight rebounds against Syracuse and seven in the conference opener against DePaul. That's quite an improvement for someone who took nine games to grab 15 rebounds to start the season.

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