MILWAUKEE -- Nowhere in the rhetorical ramp-up to Pitt's first-round NCAA tournament game against Oakland had anyone mentioned anything of the sort, but in retrospect, someone surely should have said it out loud.

There will be blood.

It poured from the head of Oakland forward Derick Nelson's head as he lay under the basket in the first half, someone in Bradley Center crowd fainted, Pitt's J.J. Richardson got a busted lip and a bloody nose, all lending Act I of Pitt's continuing Madness the look an opening scene of a Law & Order episode.

I was lookin' for Ice T.

"I didn't know my elbows were like that, kind of sharp I guess," said Pitt's Gary McGhee, who, in his descent from a little jump hook, sliced Nelson's coconut just outside the corner of the left eye. "For some reason, when that happened, it kind of slowed us down and we got settled on offense."

As maintenance staffers sprayed Blood-Off on that end of the deck, Nelson exited the other with his Golden Grizzlies teammates ahead, 14-10. Oakland was up four, then up five, but never got it to six, unless you mean Nelson's six stitches.

The 19-2 run that immediately ensued launched the Panthers toward a dominating 89-66 victory and a Sunday appointment against Xavier, and yet at the moment of open throttle, Pitt looked like a team that could no more put together a significant burst of buckets than it could put together an opera.

"We were getting to the basket, but we were missing some layups, forcing some shots and I thought we should have been dumping them off and dropping them off as their big guys rotated over," Pitt coach Jamie Dixon said. "That's what we did as the half progressed."

The Panthers missed their first six shots Friday, which meant that going back to halftime of their Big East Conference quarterfinal ejection at the hands of Notre Dame, they were 6 for 26 from the floor when Gilbert Brown hit for three of his 17 points with 5:51 elapsed in the half. Even with that, Pitt would get all of one field goal in the first 7:52.

"We looked nervous out there; I was nervous -- I know that," said junior guard Brad Wanamaker, whose jumper with 6:59 left in the half gave Pitt the lead it never relinquished and ended a near nine-minute stretch that Oakland found itself on top. "Patience was a big key for us."

Wanamaker, Nasir Robinson and Jermaine Dixon were the locksmiths that found Pitt's offensive rhythm, all driving to the basket with a sharp purpose and the knowledge that virtually nothing was falling from the perimeter.

"We weren't moving the ball early," Jermaine said after tying Brown with a team-high 17 points. "I knew we could get to the lane; it was just a matter of time."

Oakland knew it was deep trouble at halftime, partly because it had managed exactly three baskets on its previous 20 possessions, and partly because Pitt led, 39-26, without any scoring from its leading scorer, Ashton Gibbs. Oakland is history, but Gibbs is still in trouble. He made only one field goal on seven shots Friday, eight days after taking only four shots against Notre Dame. He missed badly on all three attempts Friday from behind the 3-point line. He's anything but the picture of confidence as his teammates are bidding for a spot in the Sweet 16.

"Ash will be fine," said Robinson, who shot 6 for 8 from the field. "He got two early fouls, but when he came in, he played good defense, got some assists, got to the line, so he contributed. We have a lot of players who can step up.

"Look at the game Gary [McGhee] played [against NBA prospect Keith Benson]. He guarded him great. Used his chest. Played big."

The 6-11 Benson, with hands the size of first basemen's mitts, wound up with 28 points, 10 from the free-throw line, but McGhee's defense on him while Pitt struggled offensively kept the Panthers from sliding into a serious first-half predicament.

"I was picking him up at the foul line," McGhee said. "I was trying to make him work for position."

Nothing Benson could do was going to be enough with Pitt shooting 67 percent in the second half. That the Panthers managed that with Nelson playing 15 second-half minutes with his head sewn shut might almost leave you with the feeling that Dixon's team has real offensive aptitude.

It'll be fascinating to see how Xavier will treat that notion. Fascinating, though probably not as bloody.

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