“The Pitt-Penn State basketball series could be going the way of the Pitt-Penn State football series: on hiatus.
“Today’s game at the Petersen Events Center is the final scheduled game in the century-old series. And although the two schools are talking about future games, scheduling conflicts could prevent the continuation of the game.
” ‘We’ve talked about [playing again],’ Penn State coach Ed DeChellis said. ‘One of the things has been a date. As I remember, they needed another home game next year and so do we. I’m not sure if we can do it. It’s not that we don’t want to. It’s just a matter of both teams needing [home] games.’
“Penn State is Pitt’s second-oldest rival on the basketball court. Today’s game will be the 145th meeting. Only Pitt and West Virginia have played more times over the years.
“Pitt coach Jamie Dixon said this week that he would like to continue the series.
“‘I think it’s great,’ Dixon said of the rivalry. ‘I think it’s the right thing for us. Other people bring up things, reasons not to play them, but I think we’re doing the right thing by [trying to continue] it. If you do the right thing, over the long run it bodes well for your program and the university.’ …”