MORGANTOWN, W. Va. — For the first time since Jan. 30, 2012, Pittsburgh makes a trip to the WVU Coliseum today, where a near-sell-out crowd is expected to be awaiting them for the 186th edition of the Backyard Brawl.
It will have a different feel than the most previous home meeting, when a struggling Pitt team came to Morgantown and knocked off the Mountaineers, 72-66, (WVU got revenge by 18 points later that season at the Petersen Events Center).
This time, it is the Mountaineers who are struggling — a 66-56 loss to Florida in New York exposed several deficiencies — and a young Pitt team led by first-year coach Jeff Capel who are performing above expectations, making for what could be an interesting day.
Here’s what you need to know:
TV: ESPN2 for the noon tip-off. BETTING LINE: WVU is favored by 11.5 points.
THREE GOOD QUESTIONS
What exactly is Capel working with at Pitt? When the former Oklahoma head coach and Duke assistant took the Pitt job, he basically had five scholarship players who stuck around. One of them was Jared Wilson-Frame, who is the team’s second-leading scorer, but is now coming off the bench. He signed freshman guard Xavier Johnson, who leads the team in scoring and assists. Freshman Trey McGowens is another starting guard and Malik Ellison is a graduate transfer from St. John’s. Pitt has a combined six juniors and seniors on its roster, but two are walk-ons. Capel added four freshmen and two graduate transfers to the roster, which along with the five holdovers, make up the Panthers’ roster. “They really have a good team this year, but I would think they’re going to be much better in the years to come, once [Capel] gets all of his guys in there,” West Virginia guard Chase Harler said.
Is this really a must-win for West Virginia? In a one-word answer: Yes. In college hoops, because you have to schedule a certain number of “money games” to help make ends meet in the athletic department and because every schedule is built with a certain number of winnable games in it, that means each high-major team only has a limited amount of opportunities to build its resume for the NCAA Tournament before conference play begins. This team missed out on chances against Florida and even in the season opener against Buffalo to help build its case. A win against Pitt doesn’t exactly guarantee the Mountaineers a spot in the NCAAs, but a loss could really send the season spiraling in a direction that could be difficult to reach the NIT.
What can Bob Huggins do to fix this season? Getting guys healthy and practicing on a regular basis would be a good start, but that’s up to the players more than it is Huggins. Sagaba Konate is listed as doubtful for this game. He ran a little bit in practice on Friday and did not practice Thursday. It’s safe to say that Konate’s lingering knee issues have become a source of — at the very least — mild frustration for the WVU coaching staff. Beetle Bolden (hand, arm) has begun to practice on a regular basis, which will help. Other than that, you’d like to see senior forward Esa Ahmad step up and take leadership control of the team, but that’s not exactly his personality. You can’t force a kid to be something he’s not, but he is the only senior on this team. The major concern is defense. The full-court press is done, so this team is going to have to get down and dirty and really guard and rebound like the old days in the Big East. Few on the roster have shown the ability to do that, which is likely what Huggins will work on a lot from now until the end of the season.
ALLAN TAYLOR’S PICK
Allan picks the Mountaineers in a close one, 77-74.
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