Young’s O key for Pitt

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – It’s Rivalry Week in college basketball. And right in the thick of it,… MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – It’s Rivalry Week in college basketball. And right in the thick of it, Pitt and West Virginia met for the 172nd installment of the Backyard Brawl last night in front a lively crowd at the WVU Coliseum.

Pitt (21-3, 9-1 Big East) came out swinging, racing to a 12-4 advantage before holding off a late West Virginia rally to top the Mountaineers, 60-47.

In the first half, the Panthers held West Virginia (18-5, 7-4) to 24-percent shooting – including three of 16 from 3-point land – and Sam Young scored eight points and grabbed five rebounds to pace Pitt to a 27-17 lead at the break.

From there, Young’s offense did the rest.

“That was obviously a big win for us against a good team,” Pitt head coach Jamie Dixon said. “The matchups were there for [Young] to really succeed against them.”

With four minutes remaining in the contest, Young nailed a 3-pointer, ending a 12-0 West Virginia run that thrust the Mountaineers back from a 16 point deficit. But it was Young’s emphatic, one-handed dunk off an alley-oop pass from Levance Fields in the opening moments of the game that caught the crowd’s attention.

“He’s been practicing real hard throughout this layoff,” Dixon said. “He deserved to have a good game tonight, and he earned it.”

The 6-6 sophomore finished with a career-high 21 points and seven rebounds, showing no signs of the nagging injuries that have held the forward back for most of the season. Young played significant minutes after Pitt starting forward Levon Kendall exited the game in foul trouble with 15 minutes remaining in the second half.

Pitt senior center Aaron Gray added 14 points and nine rebounds, forcing West Virginia to abandon its 1-3-1 zone defense early in the contest.

In the 1-3-1 zone, the baseline is left exposed for a brief moment before the wing defenders collapse on the ball carrier. But in the split second between the ball’s entry and the defense’s collapse, Gray moved quickly, helping Pitt tally 34 points in the paint for the night.

West Virginia is known to counteract size disadvantages with 3-point shooting, but the Mountaineers’ early struggles from long range put them down by as much as 17.

“It’s hard to win for any team when you don’t hit shots,” West Virginia guard Darris Nichols said. “But they have quick guards outside and big guys inside that make it tough for anyone.”

West Virginia freshman forward Da’Sean Butler led the Mountaineers with 14 points off the bench.

“I had a lot of open looks tonight,” Butler said. “But [Pitt] is a good team. They play together, and they play tough defense.”

According to West Virginia head coach John Beilein, West Virginia wanted Butler to take his chances when the opportunity came.

“He is a good player who can take over situations,” Beilein said. “He just has to know when it’s a good time to go and when it isn’t. Tonight he did a good job of that.”

Pitt distanced itself from West Virginia several ways, out-rebounding the Mountaineers, 38-21, while shooting 52 percent from the field.

Junior guard Ronald Ramon sank two consecutive 3-pointers midway through the second half and finished with 10 points to lead the Big East’s best 3-point-shooting offense.

The Panthers hit three of their eight 3-point attempts in the contest.

“We played very well offensively,” Dixon said. “We’ve been playing really well on the road. We communicated very well.”

It was a game filled with momentum swings, but after West Virginia wing Frank Young hit a 3-pointer to cut Pitt’s lead to five in the early going, the Panthers ripped off 7-0 and 10-2 runs around the halftime split.

“We took good shots and played good defense,” Dixon said. “We got stronger as we went, handling their traps and working together.”

West Virginia head coach John Beilein believed his team’s offensive struggles resulted from Pitt’s tough defense.

“We had a lot of open looks, but they just challenge everything,” Beilein said. “Pitt is just a great defensive team that never gives you an easy basket.”

According to Beilein, the Panthers’ defense is one of the toughest in the nation and is clicking at the right time.

“You have to play a high level to beat Pitt,” Beilein said. “They are playing as well as anybody in the country right now.”

The Panthers return to action Saturday at the Petersen Events Center, facing off against Big East foe Providence to start a three-game string of home contests. Tip-off is set for 6 p.m.