Panthers eager to get last Big East season started

PITTSBURGH (AP) - Pitt senior guard Tray Woodall is eager to wipe out the taste of a disappointing junior year.

Woodall missed nine games and was limited in a handful of others due to an abdominal injury that seemed to throw the Panthers into a tailspin. Pitt finished 22-17 and missed the NCAA tournament for the first time in more than a decade.

The Panthers begin the 2012-13 season on Friday against Mount St. Mary's hoping to build some early momentum. Pitt will start freshmen James Robinson and Steven Adams in the opener, an unusual move by coach Jamie Dixon, who typically makes first-year players wait their turn before getting into the lineup.

Dixon says Robinson and Adams are two of the team's five best defenders but says he'll experiment with his lineup liberally to find good combinations.

---

Follow Will Graves at www.twitter.com/WillGravesAP