Young surges, Mountaineers sputter

Handling foul trouble with an eight-man rotation is difficult. Playing well without the team’s… Handling foul trouble with an eight-man rotation is difficult. Playing well without the team’s leading scorer is tough, too.

Pitt had to do both in the first half of last night’s contest. The Panthers’ leading scorer, Sam Young, played just seven first-half minutes.

Young averaged 18.1 points on 49 percent shooting prior to last night’s game but had trouble finding his rhythm in the first half. He had two of his shots blocked by West Virginia’s 6-foot-9-inch forward Joe Alexander and finished 1 for 3 with just two points at halftime.

Young had eight points in the second half on a perfect 3-of-3 shooting. He also grabbed six rebounds for the game.

“He got those two fouls early, that changed the game,” Pitt coach Jamie Dixon said. “We had to get some minutes out of him.”

Young was the biggest thorn in West Virginia’s side in the first of two meetings between the rivals last season. The 6-foot-6-inch forward had 21 points and seven rebounds in Pitt’s 60-47 win at West Virginia on Feb. 7 last year.

Young, whom several coaches mentioned as a frontrunner for both the Big East Player of the Year and Big East most improved player awards, has had trouble the past three games. He was 16 of his last 50 before his 4-for-6 performance tonight.

Dangerous duo halted

West Virginia’s top two scorers, Joe Alexander and Alex Ruoff, were held to 10 combined points on 3-of-12 shooting. Alexander entered the game averaging 14.8 points per game. Ruoff averaged 14.5 points a contest.

In two games last season against the Panthers, Alexander averaged seven points and four rebounds. Ruoff averaged 6.5 points and five rebounds.

“They’re a good defensive team,” West Virginia coach Bob Huggins said. “They’re not so good that [Alexander] can’t hit the rim on his first three shots. But they do a good job of fortifying the basket.”

Fields making progress

Pitt guard Keith Benjamin said injured guard Levance Fields is starting to move really well. It showed when Fields sprinted across the court and mobbed Ronald Ramon after his buzzer-beating 3-pointer to win the game.

“I’m pretty sure he’s ahead of schedule, whatever was predicted,” Benjamin said.

Dixon said Fields looks good. The junior guard ran the treadmill and did some shooting the past few days.

“It’s where it needs to be,” Dixon said. “It’s up to him in terms of pain tolerance.