Young propels No. 4 Panthers past WVU

‘ ‘ ‘ With less than five minutes gone in the first half of Pitt’s basketball game against West… ‘ ‘ ‘ With less than five minutes gone in the first half of Pitt’s basketball game against West Virginia Monday night, Pitt center DeJuan Blair picked up his second foul and slowly made his way to the bench. ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ Blair, who averaged 15.7 points and 12.7 rebounds entering the game, sat for the remainder of the half. With Blair out and guard Levance Fields also sitting with two fouls, Pitt’s bench poured onto the floor. That’s when Sam Young knew it was his turn to pick up the scoring. ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ Young scored 20 points ‘mdash; 12 of which came in the first half ‘mdash; to help lead No. 4 Pitt past West Virginia 70-59 at the Petersen Events Center in the 177th rendition of the Backyard Brawl. ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ While the Panthers (22-2, 9-2 Big East) scored more than 90 points in each of their last three contests heading into Monday night, they counted on defense and strong bench play to push past the Mountaineers. This was true especially in the first half, when Blair and Fields were limited. ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ Pitt had three steals, four blocks and outrebounded West Virginia (16-8, 5-6 Big East) by five in the first period, which was heavily occupied by Pitt’s bench players Nasir Robinson, Gilbert Brown, Ashton Gibbs and Brad Wanamaker. ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘We got great minutes [from the bench],’ said Pitt coach Jamie Dixon. ‘It was our bench that really pulled us through.’ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ Gibbs, a freshman guard, had five first-half points ‘mdash; including three on a step-back 3-pointer that cut West Virginia’s lead to one. After trailing for a majority of the first half, he and Young helped spark a 10-3 Pitt run that gave the Panthers a 29-24 halftime lead. ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ When Blair came back on the court to start the second half, things felt a little closer to normal. Coming off a career-best 32 points in a win against DePaul on Saturday, Blair scored his eight points to help Pitt build a 12-point lead. But after arguing about his third foul call, Blair was whistled for the first technical foul of his career and hit the bench with four fouls. Blair didn’t play another minute in the game, but it was already too late for West Virginia. ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ While several Pitt players stepped into their roles on the offensive end, the Mountaineers’ foul trouble kept them out of the game. ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ West Virginia guard Alex Ruoff, who averaged 16.2 points per game entering the contest, fouled out with 7:18 remaining in the second half. Junior forward Da’Sean Butler, the Mountaineers’ leading scorer on the year, fouled out just minutes later. Ruoff finished the game with 17 points on 4-of-9 shooting, while Butler scored just four on 2-of-12 shooting. ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘Ruoff is a good player, he’s a good shooter,’ said Pitt guard Jermaine Dixon. ‘It helped that he was on the bench a lot.’ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ After the Mountaineers’ top two players were gone, the Oakland Zoo’s ‘start your tractors’ chant began. ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ Pitt ended the game with a 39-23 advantage on the boards, and shot 48.1 percent on the game compared to West Virginia’s 40.4 percent. ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘We can’t get outrebounded by 16,’ said West Virginia coach Bob Huggins. ‘We just can’t.’ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ Wanamaker hit two 3-pointers in the second half off the bench, finishing the game with six points and five rebounds. Fields scored 13 on 4-of-10 shooting, while junior guard Jermaine Dixon finished with nine on 4-of-7. Gibbs finished with seven. ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ Pitt hosts Big East rival Cincinnati on Saturday at the Petersen Events Center at 4 p.m.