Ramon seals sloppy tussle

West Virginia is having a hard time beating Pitt at anything these days.

Last night’s… West Virginia is having a hard time beating Pitt at anything these days.

Last night’s rivalry game between Pitt and West Virginia had the usual ingredients of a Backyard Brawl basketball game – lots of missed shots, plenty of physical play and some trash talking.

But in this contest, an added element of positioning for the NCAA and Big East tournaments made No. 21 Pitt’s 55-54 win against West Virginia at the Petersen Events Center that much more important.

The Panthers held West Virginia’s leading scorers Joe Alexander and Alex Ruoff in check, Sam Young caught fire late and Ronald Ramon’s buzzer-beating 3-pointer helped Pitt stave off the feisty Mountaineers.

“It was a good win for us, getting us back on track,” Pitt center DeJuan Blair said.

With 10 seconds to play, Pitt (18-5, 6-4 Big East) inbounded the ball at halfcourt to Ramon. After dribbling to the left wing, Ramon passed the ball to Pitt guard Keith Benjamin at the top of the lane. Benjamin split two defenders as he dribbled toward West Virginia’s basket. With just more than one second left, he found a wide-open Ramon in the left corner who splashed a picture-perfect 3 at the buzzer to send the Pitt faithful into a frenzy.

It was a critical win in the midst of Pitt’s treacherous stretch against some of the top teams in the conference.

“We tried to get an open guy,” Ramon said. “It feels good [to make a shot like that].”

A balanced scoring sheet carried the Panthers. Young, Pitt’s leading scorer, struggled to find any traction in the first half, battling foul trouble and a taller defender. His teammates picked up the scoring slack until Young’s awakening in the second half.

Blair, despite being undersized in a Big East contest yet again, had seven points and 12 rebounds. The 6-foot-7-inch Blair had three steals, too, taking advantage of his quickness and long arms to provide a spark defensively.

“The last couple games, he’s rushed his shots, but he’s playing so hard and getting so much better,” Pitt coach Jamie Dixon said. “He’s 23 games in and he’s continuing to get better.”

Both teams struggled tremendously on offense. The contest started with the teams shooting a combined 3 for 18 before the first media timeout just past the 16-minute mark. At halftime, Pitt was 9 for 25; West Virginia was 9 for 27. The slugfest continued into the second half, and Young’s offensive jumpstart changed the complexion of the game’s waning minutes.

Young nailed a big-time 3-pointer that tied the game, 45-45, with 7:05 to play. Another jumper less than two minutes later helped spur an 8-1 Pitt run that put the Panthers in the driver’s seat. Young finished with 10 points and six rebounds in 26 minutes.

“He made some big shots,” Dixon said. “It’s hard. It changes the game when you get into foul trouble.”

West Virginia (16-7, 5-5) did not go quietly into the Western Pennsylvania night, however. The Mountaineers quieted the Petersen Events Center crowd with an 8-0 run to take a 53-50 lead with 1:20 to play. West Virginia guard Joe Mazzulla scored five consecutive points to fuel the run. Mazzulla had a game-high 16 points. The Rhode Island native made three of his four 3-pointers.

“Joe is one of us,” West Virginia coach Bob Huggins said. “Joe is a guy you want on your team, on your side.”

But Ruoff’s split pair of free throws with 10 seconds remaining left the door open for Ramon’s triple. Ruoff’s miss was a microcosm for the Mountaineers’ tough night at the foul line. West Virginia finished 7 of 17 from the line.

“Winners find ways to win,” Huggins said.

While Mazzulla shouldered West Virginia’s offensive load, Alexander entered the game averaging a team-high 14.8 points, while Ruoff held the second-highest scoring average of 14.5 points a contest. Alexander and Ruoff each had five points.

“Ruoff is a great shooter,” Benjamin said. “Alexander is very athletic, good at driving to the basket. You just have to pressure them. You have to keep them out of the flow. If they catch the ball 30 feet from the basket, you have to be 30 feet from the basket.”

Huggins added, “We’re supposed to be a good shooting team. That’s what they told me, and then we go 7 for 17 from the foul line.