Backyard busted: WVU gets payback against Pitt

‘ ‘ ‘ NEW YORK ‘- The No. 3 wasn’t kind to the Pitt basketball team Thursday night during its… ‘ ‘ ‘ NEW YORK ‘- The No. 3 wasn’t kind to the Pitt basketball team Thursday night during its 74-60 loss to West Virginia in the Big East tournament quarterfinals. ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ The Panthers didn’t make a 3-pointer for the game’s duration and fell in the third version of the Backyard Brawl of the season to prevent Pitt from advancing to the Big East finals for the eighth time in nine years. ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ The last time the Panthers failed to reach the Big East tournament final was in 2005, Jamie Dixon’s second year as head coach. ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘We weren’t coached well, we weren’t prepared well. We just got outplayed in every area,’ said Dixon. ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ The stat sheet read that Pitt shot 45 percent from the field but made only eight field goals in the second half. ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ Pitt (28-4) missed all eight of its 3-point attempts and its offense was limited by West Virginia’s smothering 1-3-1 zone defense. ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘We wanted to switch defenses on them, keep throwing different defenses at them so they can’t adjust to them, and it worked,’ said West Virginia junior Da’Sean Butler, who had 16 points. ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘We just didn’t grind it out like we usually do,’ said Pitt center DeJuan Blair. ‘We’ve just got to blame ourselves. We didn’t shoot that well and we got outrebounded, and we’re going to keep this as motivation.’ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ Sam Young paced the Panthers with 15 points on 6-of-17 shooting while missing his three 3-point attempts, and Blair added 14 but only played 18 minutes because of foul trouble. Blair fouled out with 1:17 left in the game. ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ Three Mountaineers finished in double figures, led by freshman Devin Ebanks’ 20 points in 40 minutes. Senior Alex Ruoff tallied 18 points for seventh-seeded West Virginia (23-10). ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ West Virginia advanced to face No. 6-seed Syracuse on Friday night but lost in overtime 74-69. ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ Pitt triumphed in both of its meetings with the Mountaineers in the regular season, winning 79-67 in Morgantown on Jan. 25, and 70-59 at the Petersen Events Center on Feb. 9. ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ But the Panthers never led in the second half in their self-proclaimed ‘home away from home’ at Madison Square Garden. A Tyrell Biggs jump shot with just more than four minutes left in the first half gave Pitt its final lead of the game, 29-28. ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ Both teams faced foul trouble early and often, with Pitt taking the brunt of the effects in the first half. ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ Blair picked up his second personal foul on a blocking call as Ruoff drove to the basket. Dixon removed Blair from the game with 15:59 remaining in the first half. ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ Five minutes later, Biggs was whistled for his second foul while bumping Ruoff coming off a screen. Biggs also went to the bench, and Gary McGhee took his place underneath. ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ At one point, Young was the only Panther starter on the floor. But although West Virginia pushed its lead to 26-20 on a Ruoff jumper, Pitt raced back with seven straight points culminated by a Gilbert Brown dunk. ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ Dixon put Biggs back in, but Biggs was called for an over-the-back foul with 2:47 left in the half, his third foul of the game. Butler also picked up his third foul one minute later. ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ As time wound down at the end of the half, Jermaine Dixon found Nasir Robinson for a reverse layup that tied the game, but John Flowers tipped in a West Virginia miss at the buzzer to propel the Mountaineers to a 36-34 halftime advantage. ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ West Virginia carried that momentum to the start of the second half and went on a 9-3 run for its biggest lead of the game at the time at 45-37. ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ Whistles continued to blow, but a majority of those fouls came on Pitt’s attempted shots in the paint. After two free throws by Young cut the deficit to 53-47, the Mountaineers rattled off eight straight points for their largest lead at 61-47. ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ The Panthers continued to miss from the outside, and the Mountaineers sealed the end result on a Butler 3-pointer with 5:13 remaining, increasing West Virginia’s advantage to 68-53. ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ Pitt tried to press in the final three minutes, but the Mountaineers broke it and drew the fifth fouls from both Blair and Brad Wanamaker in the final 1:17. ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘I know this is hard to say, but I’d rather lose in the Big East and win the NCAA instead of winning the Big East and lose the NCAA,’ said Blair. ‘I think this is a little setback for us, but we can’t take [any] steps back. We’ve got to take steps forward.’