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MILWAUKEE - Oakland senior Johnathon Jones has more assists than anyone in Summit League history, but today he'll be asked to do something more solitary.

Jones, who has fared well covering some top guards this season, will be counted on to stay with Pitt sophomore Ashton Gibbs, the Big East's Most Improved Player.

"I'll say this, and (Gibbs) will score 30," Oakland coach Greg Kampe said, "but we've got a guy I think can guard him."

After an opening day of big upsets and near-misses, No. 3 seed Pitt (24-8) will try to avoid becoming another early-round victim when it plays No. 14 seed Oakland (26-8) at 2:45 p.m. today at Bradley Center in a West Region first-round game.

The winner will play either No. 6 Xavier or No. 11 Minnesota on Sunday in the second round.

"It's a new season," Pitt guard Brad Wanamaker said. "We don't want to go home."

Gibbs will be a big factor in how long Pitt sticks around. The team's leading scorer at 15.8 points per game, he was held to four points on a season-low four shots by Notre Dame in the Big East quarterfinals.

As teams work harder to deny the sweet-shooting Gibbs the ball, his shot totals have plunged. Gibbs, settling only for open shots, has scored fewer than 14 points four times in the past five games.

In the past month, he has two games with four points or fewer - and two games with 14 points or more.

The second-team all-Big East selection said he needs to keep working harder moving without the ball to create open looks.

"We're a team," he said. "Everybody on this team can score. I'm just going to continue to play my game and not force anything."

Pitt coach Jamie Dixon said Gibbs' low shot totals against Notre Dame - as Pitt scored a season-low 45 points - came from a slower-paced game and poor execution.

"It's more about execution as a team," Dixon said. "We ran some sets for him in the second half (against Notre Dame) that we didn't execute well enough."

Jones, a 5-foot-11, 160-pound senior, held guard Sherron Collins of No. 1 Kansas to nine points on 4-of-7 shooting. He also limited Memphis' Willie Kemp (five points) and Oregon's Garrett Sim (five points). Two years ago, he harassed Michigan State's Drew Neitzel, who four months later would help knock Pitt out of the NCAA Tournament, to 12 points on 3-of-9 shooting.

"We'll see what happens," Kampe said. "But we feel good going into the matchup that we have someone who can hang with him."

Jones, who broke Bryce Drew's all-time assist record, said Gibbs will be among his toughest challenges.

"He's a great player," Jones said. "We have to limit his touches. If we can do that and contest all of his shots, I think will have a great chance of containing him."

Taller point guards - and the 6-2 Gibbs is one -- have bothered Jones. Syracuse's Brandon Triche, a 6-4 freshman, scored a season-high 27 points against Oakland. Western Illinois' Ceola Clark, a 6-3 first-team all-Summit League selection, averaged 17 points in two games against Oakland.

For sure, Pitt needs balanced scoring. The Panthers are 22-2 when at least three players reach double figures. When only two players hit double-digits, Pitt is 4-6.

"In this tournament teams are going to try to deny Ashton," Wanamaker said. "But when they deny him, they open the offense up and give other people open looks."

Note: In what has become an annual occurrence, Dixon was asked about a coaching opening, this time at DePaul, and he gave his typical response. "We don't talk about other jobs," he said. "I don't think it's fair to anybody involved." Chicago media outlets reported Wednesday that Dixon was on the top of DePaul's wish list.

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