No Senioritis – veterans lead Mountaineers past Pitt

There was something in the air in the WVU Coliseum on Monday night as the ninth-ranked Pitt… There was something in the air in the WVU Coliseum on Monday night as the ninth-ranked Pitt men’s basketball team traveled to Morgantown, W.Va., to take on the 14th-ranked WVU Mountaineers.

Maybe it was because both schools were ranked in the AP Top 25 Poll for only the second time in the 170 meetings between the two schools – the first happened earlier this year at the Pete when Pitt was ranked 14th and defeated the ninth-ranked Mountaineers.

Or maybe there was some extra excitement because sole possession of third place in the Big East was on the line – which means a first-round bye in the conference tournament next week.

Or it could have been just the fact that whenever Pitt and WVU square off, hardwood or gridiron, there’s always a little something extra in the atmosphere.

But this was different; this was the Mountaineers’ last home game of the season and a celebration from start to finish for the senior basketball players at WVU.

Before the game, it was senior ceremonies as usual; each of the five players were announced and escorted to half court by family members, and presented with a framed jersey.

WVU head coach John Beilein did his part and started all five members of the senior class. The seniors did their part throughout the entire game to make sure rival Pitt didn’t ruin their celebration.

Johannes Herber paced WVU to open the game with a sharp shooting display, where he hit his first three shots, all 3 pointers, and sparked a 13-2 run to start the contest. Herber finished the game with 16 points on 50-percent shooting from the field.

As Pitt clawed back from its early deficit, the game fell onto the shoulders of 6-foot-10 center Kevin Pittsnogle. The senior seemed to hit big shot after big shot as he helped maintain the Mountaineer lead.

WVU never trailed throughout the contest, and Pittsnogle finished with 26 points on 9-for-21 shooting from the field and 6-of-12 from 3.

The rest of the WVU seniors, Mike Gansey, J.D. Collins and Patrick Beilein, combined for 21 points. In total, the five WVU seniors finished with 63 of the 67 points needed to defeat the Panthers 67-62.

Pitt freshman guard Levance Fields said it best outside the locker room after the game: “They played like seniors today and made the big plays when they had to.”

The same cannot be said for Pitt’s two seniors on their Monday night performances.

Leading scorer and point guard Carl Krauser finished well below his average with only 10 points. More notably, Krauser was a dismal 3-of-16 from the field and turned the ball over three times.

Pitt’s other senior, starting forward John DeGroat, turned the ball over on Pitt’s first two offensive possessions and was benched for the remainder of the game.

Despite the dominance of WVU’s seniors and the ineffectiveness of Pitt’s, the Panthers still had chances to win the game; they just couldn’t get it done when they needed to.

Although sophomore Ronald Ramon and freshman Sam Young led Pitt with 12 points apiece and Fields added 10, it appeared that the Panthers’ inexperience made just enough difference to keep them out of the win column on Monday.

The hostile environment created by the WVU fans coupled with the cool demeanor of the WVU seniors spelled doom from the start for the Panthers, and even though they came close, it seemed as though they never had a chance to pull out a victory.

Pitt will look to create that same environment when they finish their schedule on Friday and play host to Seton Hall at 7:30 p.m. before heading to New York City for the Big East Tournament next week.