GAME NOTES: Pittsburgh head coach Jamie Dixon eyes up career win No. 300 on Wednesday night when his Panthers host the Florida State Seminoles in an Atlantic Coast Conference clash at the Petersen Events Center.

Florida State has lost two of its last three contests, including Sunday's 70-57 setback at Syracuse. The Seminoles are in the midst of a stretch that features four road games in a five-game span. The lone home bout in that stretch comes against NC State this Saturday.

Dixon, in only his 12th season as a head coach, ranks among the fastest coaches to reach the 300-win milestone in Division I history. But his team enters this tilt looking to rebound from Saturday's 71-62 loss to Clemson. That marked the Panthers' first loss at the Petersen Events Center in eight tries this season.

Pitt holds a 9-2 series lead, although FSU notched a 71-66 victory over the Panthers last season at the PEC.

The Seminoles shot just 2-of-16 (.125) from 3-point range against Syracuse, while the Orange converted on 10-of-17 attempts (.588). Syracuse also committed only eight turnovers for the game, compared to 13 FSU miscues. Not surprisingly, the Orange had little trouble in earning the victory as they led by as many as 18 early in the second half. Xavier Rathan-Mayes paced FSU with 14 points, while Boris Bojanovsky added 10 points off the bench on 5-of-5 shooting from the floor to go along with four blocks.

Offensive consistency has been an issue for the Seminoles since leading scorer Aaron Thomas (14.8 ppg) was ruled ineligible for the remainder of the season on the eve of the team's ACC opener a few weeks ago. His absence has placed more of the scoring load on the shoulders of Rathan-Mayes (12.5 ppg) and Montay Brandon (13.2 ppg, 5.6 rpg).

Pitt is led by Michael Young, a 52-percent shooter from the floor who is averaging 13.4 points and 7.7 rebounds. James Robinson is the team's other double-digit scorer, averaging 10.9 ppg. The Panthers have generally held their own on the boards, where they are +4.0 in rebounding margin on the season.

However, they were outrebounded by a huge 39-22 margin against Clemson, and that included a 14-6 disparity on the offensive glass. That marked the team's worst rebounding margin since 1999. The Tigers made 8-of-18 3-pointers for the game and took command with a 7-0 spurt midway through the second half. Pitt tied a school record with only three turnovers, but the Panthers shot just 39.6 percent from the floor and simply gave away too many second chances on the boards. Cameron Wright led the way with a season-high 18 points in the loss, while Chris Jones scored 11. Young made only 3-of-12 field goals and finished with nine points.

FSU won in this building last season, but the Seminoles have lacked scoring punch without their top weapon. Look for the Panthers to come out strong on their home floor and get coach Dixon his milestone victory.