Men’s Basketball: Panthers look to end slump at No. 6 West Virginia

Just an hour apart along Interstate 79, Pitt and West Virginia know each other pretty… Just an hour apart along Interstate 79, Pitt and West Virginia know each other pretty well.

The two men’s basketball teams renew acquaintances tonight in Morgantown with basketball’s Backyard Brawl, as the No. 21 Panthers and No. 6 Mountaineers tip off for the 179th time at 7 p.m.

Coming into the game, Pitt (16-5, 6-3 Big East) is trying to pull out of its recent slump. The Panthers head to Morgantown coming off a 70-61 loss at South Florida and have lost three of their last four games.

Pitt coach Jamie Dixon said the team got away from its style of tough defense and sound execution against the Bulls.

“Numbers don’t lie,” Dixon said after the game. “We need to rebound better. We need to defend better, and we need to execute better.”

Pitt has been out-rebounded in each of its last two games. The team had not been out-rebounded by an unranked team since Wichita State accomplished the feat on Nov. 23.

West Virginia (17-3, 6-2 Big East) will challenge Pitt beneath the rim, as the Mountaineers enter tonight’s game with the second-best rebounding margin in the Big East, averaging 7.5 more rebounds per game than their opponents. West Virginia forward Devin Ebanks stands sixth in the conference with 8.2 rebounds per contest.

Ebanks is one of four returning starters from last year’s Mountaineers team. Da’Sean Butler leads the veteran group with 16.5 points per game, while sophomore Kevin Jones supplies 14.2 points per contest in his first season as a starter.

Butler and Jones had 27 and 16 points, respectively, in West Virginia’s come-from-behind victory over Louisville Saturday afternoon. The victory helped bump the Mountaineers to sixth in the AP Top 25 this week.

Meanwhile, for the Panthers, Gilbert Brown produced the best point totals of his collegiate career despite the team’s slump. Brown had a career-high 25 points against South Florida, and he hit 20 against Georgetown in Pitt’s 74-62 loss Jan. 20.

“He did some good things, and he’s got some things he can work on,” Dixon said. “But he shot it well, which is the biggest thing.”

Brown might have to lead Pitt’s offense once more against the Mountaineers. Guard Jermaine Dixon’s status for tonight’s’s game is up in the air. Dixon missed Sunday’s South Florida game with a sprained right ankle suffered last Thursday against St. John’s.

Jamie Dixon said Jermaine Dixon was never close enough health-wise for the senior to play against the Bulls. Jermaine Dixon has suffered a number of injuries in the past year, including a dislocated finger last week against Seton Hall. He also missed the first eight games of this season while recovering from breaking his right foot twice over the summer.

“I really feel for him and how he’s going to deal with his senior year,” Jamie Dixon said. “We need to get him ready for this stretch run here.”

Although Brown has produced, other Pitt guards have struggled. Ashton Gibbs is 4-for-22 from beyond the arc in his last four games, while Nasir Robinson has 14 points total since his 26-point performance against Louisville.

“We missed 26 shots [against South Florida],” Dixon said. “So we’ve got to get better all-around play from all of our guys.”

Though the Bulls’ Dominique Jones put up 37 points against Pitt on Sunday, the Panthers still boast the best defense in the Big East, allowing 60.2 points per game. Yet West Virginia’s defense rivals Pitt’s, as the Mountaineers are second in the conference at 62.1 points against average.

The game tonight will be the two teams’ first meeting since West Virginia upset Pitt in last year’s Big East tournament. The Mountaineers hold a 94-84 all-time record against the Panthers.

The showdown tonight won’t decide this year’s final bragging rights, though. The two teams play again at the Petersen Events Center Feb. 12.