West Virginia Vs. Pitt: Mountaineers Use Defense To Squash Panthers, 66-48

The Mountaineers used pressure defense and fast break points to blow past the Panthers to a 66-48 victory. West Virginia outscored Pitt 40-23 in the second half, behind a strong defensive effort. WVU forced 17 turnovers in the contest, many of them leading to fast break points. After a hotly contested first half, WVU used an early second half 12-0 run to put the Panthers at an arm's length and never looked back.

Kevin Jones had his 18th double double of the season, tallying 16 points and 12 rebounds. Fellow senior Darryl Bryant didn't start the contest, a first this season, but seemed galvinized in the contest contributing 15 points and seven rebounds and four steals. Deniz Kilicli also had another strong showing, looking physical inside and tallying 14 points on a array of tip-ins, hook shots and dunks. Tray Woodall led the Panthers with 12 points.

The Panthers struggled with the Mountaineers defense all night, shooting a paltry 37 percent from the field and an ice cold 18 percent from three point range. The Mountaineers also outrbounded the Panthers by a 31-25 margin. West Virginia had an outstanding night at the free throw line, going 18-of-19. It was an impressive effort, considering the Mountaineers' struggles at the stripe so far this season.

The win is a huge boost for the Mountaineers, who move to 7-7 in Big East play. Their next contest is on the road at Notre Dame next Wednesday in South Bend. Tonight's win goes a long way towards WVU's tournament hopes, but there's still a lot of work left to do.

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West Virginia Vs. Pitt: 'Eers Lead Tight Contest, 26-25

After a tightly-contested first half, the West Virginia Mountaineers lead the Pittsburgh Panthers, by a point, 26-25. The Mountaineers led for much of the first half, but relinquished the lead to the Panthers with less than four minutes remaining, though the lead would change hands three more times before the half's end.

In attempt to break the Mountaineers' skid, WVU head coach decided to shuffle the starting line-up, benching senior guard Truck Bryant. Tonight's Backyard BasketBrawl is the first game this season that hasn't seen Bryant in the starting lineup. The move seemed to work and Bryant hit his first shot, a deep three, quickly after coming off the bench. Truck also turned in a rare fast break dunk, the end result of an opportunistic steal. Bryant finished the half with seven points on 3-of-5 shooting.

Deniz Kilicli appears to be back in dominating form, leading the Mountaineers in scoring with nine points and a pair of rebounds. The ever steady Kevin Jones had eight points and five rebounds.

The Panthers were paced by Ashton Gibbs and Tray Woodall who had six points apiece.

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West Virginia Vs. Pitt: Can The 'Eers Stop Their Free Fall?

Mountaineers fans are nervous, and rightfully so. After spending much of the early season seemingly as a lock for the NCAA Tournament, now ... not so much. The Mountaineers are 1-5 in their last six contests and seem to be a team in free fall. All but one of those losses were close, so it shouldn't take much for WVU to snap out of it. Unfortunately for the Mountaineers, they're staring down a trip to the Peterson Event Center where Pitt is a very, very tough team to beat. When the two squared off in Morgantown, Pitt won by six, but it wasn't that close. What are the storylines for the Mountaineers tonight?

• Can Truck pull out of the ditch? Who knows anymore? Mountaineer fans are generally a little too hard on Truck but he hasn't been doing anyone any favors lately. His 32-point explosion against Providence notwithstanding, he's been a missing man lately. The Mountaineers last few contests have been riddled with mistakes and misses from the senior point guard and that just can't happen if WVU is going to stand a chance.
• Can KJ step it up? Amazingly, Kevin Jones hasn't played his best of late. Shots he was making down low are now rimming out. He's having a harder time getting to loose rebound. He gets 100 percent of the opposing team's defensive attention and he's been struggling to be as productive as was earlier in the season. That said, he's still averaging 20 and 11 and leading the conference in scoring and rebounding, so we're really talking about shades of grey here.
• Can the Turk use his size and his head? Deniz Kilicli has played great of late. It almost seems as if he finally understands how huge he is and how he can dominate other players inside. Unfortunately, he wasn't using his head against Louisville and his stupid technical foul was a key moment in the Mountaineers let a victory slide away. The Turk has got to play hard and physical, but also smart. His silly tech cost him valuable second half minutes, a loss the Mountaineers couldn't recover from.
• The schedule demands it. This is a must-win. Not only is it possibly the last Backyard BasketBrawl for awhile, WVU is desperately seeking a victory. If they can't pull one out tonight, then the Mountaineers will likely be looking at a trip to the NIT.

West Virginia Vs. Pitt: Panthers And Mountaineers Reeling Heading Into Matchup