Rivalry takes on new meaning

When Pitt and West Virginia meet in any sport, it’s a showdown, a donnybrook of epic… When Pitt and West Virginia meet in any sport, it’s a showdown, a donnybrook of epic proportions. There’s a reason it’s called the Backyard Brawl.

Tonight, when Pitt and West Virginia tip off at 7 p.m., the Backyard Brawl has more meaning than ever.

In December, Pitt football halted the Mountaineers’ run for a college football championship. At the outset of what looks to be a maddening March, Pitt basketball has the chance to halt the Mountaineers’ hopes for an NCAA Tournament berth.

Pitt (21-8, 9-7 Big East) secured an all-important Big East road win – its first since beating St. John’s, 81-57, on Jan. 23 – with a thrilling 82-77 win against Syracuse on Saturday. Critics wondered if the stumbling Panthers, who had lost three of their past four, were Tournament worthy. Now, Saturday’s win has critics wondering where the Panthers will play in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.

West Virginia (20-9, 9-7) lost at No. 15 Connecticut, 79-71, on Saturday. The Mountaineers trailed by as many as 17 points to the Huskies, but a frantic 20-6 run pushed West Virginia to the brink of an upset in Hartford, Conn. The battle-tested Huskies held West Virginia off, however, and the loss leaves the Mountaineers with one more shot at a marquee win – tonight’s tussle with Pitt.

The bitter rivalry doesn’t need any added meaning, but tonight’s game could help or hurt West Virginia’s chances of making the NCAA Tournament in coach Bob Huggins’ first year on the sidelines.

Pitt beat West Virginia, 55-54, on Feb. 7. Pitt guard Ronald Ramon made a buzzer-beating 3-pointer to stifle West Virginia’s upset bid. A month later, Pitt forward Sam Young said the second game is even bigger than the first.

“Their fans are hostile,” Young said. “It’s going to be a battle. The game that we play will be way more important than the one we played.”

The Mountaineers’ biggest problem is their lack of a quality conference win. Only one of West Virginia’s nine league wins came against the top half of the Big East.

If they want to win, the Mountaineers must match Pitt’s physical style.

Huggins has generated a new mindset for his Mountaineers. Prior to his arrival, West Virginia played a relaxed 1-3-1 zone defense and a back-door-cutting, 3-point hurling offense. Huggins, who played point guard for West Virginia from 1975 to 1977, has introduced a more physical, hard-nosed mentality.

The seasoned coaching veteran won’t allow his Mountaineers to be pushed around. He has added a man-to-man defense and a more determined offense, one that focuses on penetrating the lane and scoring in the paint.

It’s a style that will resemble Pitt’s more and more as Huggins shapes and forms his Mountaineers.

The Panthers, on the other hand, have recently struggled with their go-to styles of play. Pitt didn’t defend or rebound particularly well in February.

“Rebounding has to be a group effort,” Young said on Thursday. “We just have to put it together.”

While West Virginia’s resume needs tonight’s game in its win column, the Panthers could use it for seeding purposes.