Decision rates among his best

Xavier's Anderson correct to transfer

The season after coach Bobby Gonzalez led Manhattan to a No. 12 seed in the 2004 NCAA Tournament, he brought in C.J. Anderson, a 6-foot-6-inch forward out of Cincinnati with the potential to get the Jaspers back to the dance.

Anderson put up impressive numbers his freshman year (16.1 points and 8.6 rebounds, finishing as the team's No. 2 scorer and earning Metro Atlantic freshman of the year in 2004-05).

The trouble came the following season, when Anderson, who had been leading the Jaspers with averages of 18.8 points and 9.4 boards through 16 games, was declared academically ineligible.

Gonzalez left after the season to go to Seton Hall. Anderson was in limbo. He thought about transferring to Cincinnati, but the Bearcats' program was in disarray. Xavier had just earned a No. 14 seed in the NCAA Tournament and nearly knocked off Adam Morrison and Gonzaga.

But there was another selling point.

Xavier's men's basketball team had an 82 percent graduation rate. The only schools in the tournament with higher rates were Duke (89 percent), Villanova (89), and North Carolina (86).

"The decision was easy for me," Anderson said.

"Once Gonzalez took the Seton Hall job, I wanted to come back close to where I was from. I decided to go to Xavier. It has an outstanding graduation rate and it has an outstanding basketball program, so it was really a no-brainer for me to go to Xavier."

Three years later, Xavier coach Sean Miller points to Anderson's academics as much as he does the senior's 10 points and 5.4 rebounds per game.

"I think where C.J. blossomed is it's the combination of comfort and structure off the court in his hometown and a team approach surrounded by some terrific kids that have already brought out the best in him," Miller said before Xavier lost to Pitt, 60-55.

"He's someone that really needed an academic environment like the one we offer at Xavier. We not only have a great education, but it's in the small atmosphere with all the academic support you could ever, ever need."

Anderson has had the help of Sister Rose Ann Fleming, who since 1985 has worked as an athletic adviser at Xavier. After the 1990-91 season, then-head coach Pete Gillen named her the team's MVP.

"I don't want to say it was more demanding," Anderson said. "I want to say, if anything, it was easier because there was more willingness to help me out. It was easier for me to come in with people that were willing to help me and take the time, sitting down to help me and help me when I was struggling. So, it wasn't more difficult at all.

"Academically, there are people at Xavier that care more about me as a student vs. me as an athlete, and me succeeding off the court. Sister Fleming, she's a major part of that. And the coaching staff, they care about us graduating. Those are the things I'm getting at Xavier that I didn't get at Manhattan."

Anderson's numbers aren't as high as they were at Manhattan - he only scored 6 points last night on 2-for-9 shooting - but that's not important to Miller.

"This year, he's the leader of our team," Miller said. "He's the heart and soul of what we do."

After his team slugged its way to a third tournament victory, Pittsburgh coach Jamie Dixon remained convinced the Panthers have yet to show their best. "I think our offense could be better in this game, but they had a lot to do with it," Dixon said. "They're a physical team and it was a physical game. There weren't a whole lot of fouls called. It was called evenly and balanced. We had two teams that are very good. They're big, they're strong, they play a lot of guys, and they're very experienced. They had something to do with it. We've got to execute a little bit better. But again, you get down to this time, there's not going to be a lot of easy baskets." . . . Dixon said Tyrell Biggs was limited to 11 minutes because of early foul trouble, forcing Sam Young (40) and DeJuan Blair (35) to log extended minutes. "Normally, we don't like to play Sam 40, but we went with him," Dixon said . . . Young's team-high 19 points moved him into fourth place on Pitt's all-time scoring list with 1,856 points, ahead of Jason Matthews (1,840, 1987-91), a former teammate of Miller's who was in attendance . . . The Panthers trailed at halftime (37-29) for just the fourth time this season. It was Xavier's first loss (22-1) after leading at the half . . . Pitt tied the school record for wins in a season (31), with the other season (2003-04) also coming under Dixon's watch . . . Face in the crowd: Patriots safety Ray Ventrone was spotted before the game chatting with Villanova athletic director Vince Nicastro. "Hey, you knew I had to be here to root for my alma mater," Ventrone said . . . It was nice to hear Andy Jick at the mike. Jick, the public address announcer for Boston College games, used to do the honors at Celtics games at the old Boston Garden.

Michael Vega of the Globe staff contributed to this report.