Watch NCAA Basketball : Providence vs Pittsburgh Live Streaming

Watch NCAA Basketball : Providence vs Pittsburgh Live Streaming, Starts at 9:00 PM ET, March 4, 2010.

Needing one win to ensure a double-bye to start the Big East tournament, Pittsburgh couldn’t ask for two easier opponents to face to end the season.

The 17th-ranked Panthers go for their sixth straight home win over Providence on Thursday, trying to avoid overlooking the Friars for a second straight year.

Pittsburgh (22-7, 11-5) has won six of seven and is on the verge of securing a two-day bye, awarded to the top four teams in the conference. The Panthers also have a chance to catch 10th-ranked West Virginia, which is a half-game ahead of them, for the No. 3 seed because they hold the tie-breaker against the Mountaineers.

The Panthers, however, earned a double-bye in the tournament last season only to lose their opener to West Virginia.Pittsburgh will close the regular season with home games against Providence (12-16, 4-12) and Rutgers (15-14, 5-11). On Thursday, it will be trying to avenge an 81-73 road loss to the Friars last season when the Panthers were the No. 1 team in the nation.

That Providence team was hoping to reach the NCAA tournament, but this one has little chance of earning a bid after dropping eight straight. The Friars have one of the worst scoring defenses in the nation, allowing 81.2 points per game — 85.7 in Big East play.

Pittsburgh will be looking to take advantage of those struggles following what Dixon believes was one of the Panthers’ better offensive games of the season.