Mr. Saturday Knight

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – Get used to it, Panther fans. This year’s team thrives on winning the… MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – Get used to it, Panther fans. This year’s team thrives on winning the close ones.

For the second game in a row, the No.14-ranked “Cardiac Kids” fought back from an early deficit for another victory. This time it was an 85-75 defeat of West Virginia that was broadcasted nationally on ESPN on Saturday.

The Mountaineers (8-16, 1-11 Big East) opened the game with 10 unanswered points, feeding off a boisterous crowd of 8,090.

Freshman sensation Jonathan Hargett led the Mountaineers with 18 points, while making seven-of-14 attempts in the first half.

Then Brandin Knight took over.

The 6-foot junior guard made 11 of the Panther’s (22-4, 10-3) first 13 points. He ended with a career-high 29 points, while tying a previous high by hitting six three-pointers in the game.

“I just came out and tried to be aggressive,” Knight said. “After I hit my first couple of shots, I felt like I would hit them all.”

The Mountaineers run-and-gun style caught Pitt off-guard, while opening the game shooting an impressive 58.8 percent from the field.

“West Virginia played about as well as you can play in the first half,” Pitt head coach Ben Howland said of the 45-37 score at the half. “They were just on fire. They were really fired up.”

Even though they kept the score close, the 45 first half points the Panther’s gave up was 14 shy of their season average for an entire game.

The second half was a different story.

With Pitt trailing 51-47 and looking to gain momentum, guard Julius Page slammed home an alley-oop pass from Knight. It looked like instant replay one minute and 18 seconds later, as Page dunked another mid-air pass from Knight, capping a 10-2 run.

“The two lob dunks were big plays and got our guys pumped,” Howland said.

Knight, who had three steals, knew all along that his team would bounce back.

“We thought that they gave us their best in the first half,” he said. “They outrebounded us and we weren’t playing good defense. We knew if we picked up our defense we would get back in the game.”

And he was right. The Panthers, who were 4-3 when trailing at the half, held the Mountaineers to only 31 percent from the field in the second half.

West Virginia then returned to what made them the worst team in the Big East his season: poor defense.

The tight Pitt defense led to more open shots, as Pitt made 68 percent of its shots in the second half.

“Because they were pressuring us,” Knight said, “I would get more open shots.”

The up-tempo style finally caught up to West Virginia, as they had 10 turnovers in the second half.

Howland was impressed with his team’s resolve.

“The credit really has to go to our players to bounce back and play great defense,” he said.

Donatas Zavackas, who Howland calls the team’s “best post defender,” shut down West Virginia leading scorer Chris Moss, holding him to seven points, more than 10 below his season average.

The junior forward was second on the team with 14 points, making four-of-six shots.

For the game, Hargett led West Virginia with 26 points, but only made two-of-seven shots in the second half.

“I know he’s very explosive and makes shots,” Knight said. “When he gets into a rhythm he’s tough. But in the second half, he wasn’t hitting too many.”

Penn Hills product Drew Schifinio best exemplified West Virginia’s efforts. He was second on the team with 13 points, but his out-of-control, ball-yard style led to three turnovers and an ejection for a flagrant elbow.

Pitt, on the other hand, kept its cool, getting contributions from many players. Along with Knight and Zavackas, Page hit six-of-10 shots for 13 points, while Jaron Brown had 13 points and three steals.

“Every game we have been having different guys step up. Our guys never think we are out of a game,” Knight said.

Interim head coach Drew Catlett, who is filling in for his uncle and coaching legend, Gale Catlett, was impressed with Pitt.

“They’ve got a very good team,” he said. “They are very well-coached and got a great point-guard and good support players.”

Except for an oblique injury causing Chevon Troutman to sit out the game, Howland did not think the six-day layoff hurt his team.

“The layoff was good for us. You know we had some energy in the stretch run,” he said. “The only bad part was Chevy Troutman got hurt.”

Pitt can clinch at least a tie for first place in the Big East West division with a win in its next game against Rutgers. The game is on Feb. 21 at the Fitzgerald Field House, with tip-off set for 7:30 p.m.