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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