Panthers hold off West Virginia, 67-58

MORGANTOWN, W. Va. — One hundred was the magic number in Pitt’s game against West Virginia on… MORGANTOWN, W. Va. — One hundred was the magic number in Pitt’s game against West Virginia on Saturday night.

For the Mountaineers, the game marked the 100th anniversary of their men’s basketball team’s first game, which coincidentally enough was against Pitt.

For the Panthers, a win would give the senior class its 100th career victory.

The game started out the way any fan would picture “The Backyard Brawl”. With four ties and 10 lead changes in the first half, it was like watching two heavyweight prizefighters slug it out in the ring.

“We knew coming into this game that they were going to be hyped behind their crowd, being that it was the 100th anniversary,” said senior guard Jaron Brown. “We just tried to go out there and handle it as best we could.”

But not even the voice of former West Virginia superstar and NBA Hall-of-Famer Jerry West was enough to push the Mountaineers past the Panthers, as Pitt won its 24th game of the season, 67-58.

In front of a deafening crowd, West Virginia held a 28-26 lead with 6:10 remaining in the first half. The lead was short-lived and would be the last for the Mountaineers, however, and the Panthers were able to regain momentum and takeover.

Seconds after falling behind, Brown found Julius Page, who knocked down an open three pointer. The three-point shot was the beginning of a 10-0 Pitt run that allowed the Panthers to go into the locker room with an eight-point lead.

Head coach Jamie Dixon was proud of the way his team handled its first-half adversities. After freshman forward Chris Taft picked up his second foul only 2:31 into the game, Dixon was forced to turn to his bench to help pick up the slack.

“We overcame a lot of obstacles,” Dixon said. “I didn’t get nervous. We have Mark McCarroll and Toree Morris.”

Pitt played hard-nosed defense at the end of the first half and early in the second half. The Panthers did not allow the Mountaineers to hit a shot from the field over a stretch of 9:31.

West Virginia head coach John Beilein said that Pitt’s defense simply would not give up easy shots. West Virginia shot just 35 percent from the field.

“Pitt’s defense was probably the main reason we didn’t shoot it well,” Beilein said. “We just didn’t make shots when we needed to make them.”

Unlike the first half, there were no lead changes in the second half. It was typical Pitt basketball — tough team defense and unselfish play on offense.

It was the 17th time this season that Pitt’s defense held its opponent under 60 points. Only three times in 26 contests has a team scored 70 or more points on the Panthers.

Pitt (24-2, 10-2) had four players score in double figures. As a team, the Panthers shot 56 percent from the field and 50 percent from three-point land. West Virginia’s zone defense gave the Panthers plenty of open looks from the perimeter.

“They left us open,” Page said. “They want you to take open threes, we just didn’t want to take the quick ones. We wanted to wait a minute and work it around, then take what was there, and that’s what they gave us. It was tough to come in here and win. They came out and played hard. Every game counts right now, and we’re playing for a No. 1 seed.”

The Panthers will be on the road again on Tuesday when they travel to Georgetown to face the Hoyas. Tip-off is set for 7:30 p.m. Even though Georgetown has had a disappointing season thus far, the Panthers know that they cannot afford to lose focus in any Big East road game.

“We just know that every game counts,” Page said. “We can’t be worried about what Georgetown is doing. We just have to worry about getting better and doing the things we’ve got to do.”

Page has a history with Georgetown; he remembers the time he amazed fans when he dunked on former Georgetown center Ruben Boumtje-Boumtje during his freshman year. Page said that with his ankle at 100 percent, he might have a few tricks up his sleeve for Tuesday’s game.

“They didn’t forget about it, and I didn’t forget about it,” Page said of the time he dunked on Georgetown’s monstrous seven-footer. “You never know what I’ll do. I might catch somebody off guard. I haven’t dunked on anybody in a long time, so they might be sleeping on me.”