WVU uses 3s to upset Pitt

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — Pitt forward Chris Taft knew the odds, but didn’t believe what he saw. … MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — Pitt forward Chris Taft knew the odds, but didn’t believe what he saw.

In Saturday night’s 83-78 loss to West Virginia, Taft witnessed a Mountaineer team attempt 40 3-pointers. Although they missed 27 of them, rebounds were plentiful, and West Virginia rarely missed when given a second opportunity.

“You give a team like that a second or third shot, eventually they’re going to hit their shots, and that’s what they did.” Taft said. “That happened like four straight times, and I was like ‘Yo, I can’t believe the odds of this.'”

Starting for West Virginia’s (13-7 overall, 3-6 Big East) D’or Fischer and benefiting from the strong board play was Kevin Pittsnogle. Fischer –out with the flu — who is the best shooter (by percentages) on the team, was not missed.

Pittsnogle, a 6-foot-11-inch junior forward, scored 27 points and pulled down eight boards, shooting 10-for-17 from the field and four-for-nine from the 3-point arc.

“Pittsnogle is just a hard matchup,” head coach Jamie Dixon said of Pittsnogle’s size and shooting ability. “He was obviously the key.”

Eight of his points came in the overtime period, including a 3-pointer he hit that gave the Mountaineers a commanding 73-66 lead with 2:08 left.

Pitt (15-4, 5-3) tried to come back, but West Virginia was too strong. Forward Chevon Troutman hit two 3-pointers, and point guard Carl Krauser knocked one down in the extra frame, but the Panthers were still forced into a situation where they had to foul and pray for missed free throws.

That did not happen though. West Virginia made 11 of 13 frees in overtime. On the night, they connected on 18 of 20 free throws (90 percent).

The Panthers were finished off in overtime, but it was allowing the Mountaineers to climb back into the game after being down 11 points that did the Panthers in.

After shooting a horrific two-for-17 (11.8 percent) from the 3-point arc in the first half, West Virginia changed its game plan — shoot more. And that’s what they did, firing 20 in the second half, making nine of them (45 percent). Virtually every missed 3-pointer led to a made 3-pointer after rebounds.

“They had a lot of second shots,” Dixon said. “They shot it well and spaced it out well.”

The number of long-distance shots did not take Pitt by surprise. The Mountaineers, prior to the game, had attempted 496 3-pointers on the year, making 32.9 percent of them. Saturday, they connected on 32.5 percent of them.

That being said, it was also no surprise that West Virginia capped an 11-point, second-half comeback with a 3-pointer, and it was from none other than Pittsnogle.

During the comeback run, Pittsnogle had a key dunk that got his team and the 12,135 at the WVU Coliseum back into the game.

There was a scramble for a loose ball in the left corner of West Virginia’s offensive zone. A few Panthers and Mountaineers went to the floor attempting to come away with the ball, but it squeaked out and into the paint. Pittsnogle swept in, grabbed it, and dunked it hard.

Tyrone Sally, who scored 19 points in the game for the Mountaineers, hit three of his six 3-point shots on the night. He also had four boards and three assists.

Pitt performed well offensively as well, with four players reaching double-digits in scoring. Taft (16), Krauser (14) and Antonio Graves (11) all contributed throughout the game. Chevon Troutman led the pack with 25 points, nine boards and three assists.

Troutman added two points on a putback shot on a Graves missed jumper with 3.6 seconds left in regulation, sending it to overtime tied at 64.

Pitt was without its sharp shooting freshman Ronald Ramon, who sat out the game with a shoulder injury. The Panthers also played the final 3 minutes and 16 seconds of the overtime without Levon Kendall, who fouled out on a pushing foul along the baseline.

“Fouls are part of the game,” Dixon said. “We just have to finish things off.”

Krauser had a tough time finishing shots, making only five of his 14 shots from the floor. However, he dished out 15 assists and only turned the ball over twice. In the past three games he has recorded 33 assists and eight turnovers — a drastic turnaround since his suspect start.

All of his 14 points came in the second half and the overtime period, but he still felt like he came up short.

“Sometimes it feels like I could have did more,” Krauser said. “I got anxious, you know, as a point guard, I always feel like its my time to take over…it happens in the heat of the game.”

Krauser went on to add a little note for West Virginia.

“We’re going to see them again at Pitt,” he said.

As for the next game, Pitt will take on St. John’s tomorrow night at 7 p.m. at the Petersen Events Center. It will be the second meeting between these two teams. They met back on Jan. 18, with the Red Storm winning 65-62 at Madison Square Garden.