PITTSBURGH — Good day from the Steel City, where the West Virginia men’s basketball team hopes it can win its fourth straight game over the rival Pitt Panthers. That hasn’t been accomplished since 1977, when Bob Huggins was a senior guard for the Mountaineers, Mo Robinson was just beginning to come into his own as a player and Joedy Garner was the head coach.
Getting right into it, the Mountaineers (1-0) will have a real challenge from the Panthers (2-1) today, because it is a good clash of different styles. While the Mountaineers would like to take advantage of their size advantage inside with Derek Culver and Oscar Tshiebwe, Pitt has a solid three-guard lineup consisting of sophomores Trey McGowens and Xavier Johnson, as well as junior-college transfer Ryan Murphy. We’ll get into that more in a minute, as we try to have a little fun previewing what was once a fierce rivalry that hasn’t exactly picked up where it left off since the two teams resumed playing in 2017.
For now, here’s what you need to know:
TV: ESPNU (Comcast chs. 174, 853 HD; DirecTV 208; DISH 141) for the 7 p.m. game at the Petersen Events Center. BETTING LINE: The Mountaineers are a 1 1/2-point favorite.
THREE GOOD QUESTIONS
WHAT ARE THE BEST/WORST MOMENTS OF THE RIVALRY? For me, it’s easy. The best came during the 2009 Big East tournament and all that needs to be said is Truck Bryant somehow dribbled right through two Pitt defenders and then found Devin Ebanks for this:
The worst came on Feb. 7, 2008, right here at the Pete, when Joe Alexander pushed up on a screen instead of switching, which set up teammate Wellington Smith to get a game-winner shot right in his eye from the corner:
HOW BIG IS THIS CLASH OF STYLES? It really could be the difference in the game. McGowens and Johnson really had their way driving to the rim and getting good looks from the perimeter in last season’s 69-59 loss to the Mountaineers. Now, the Panthers have added Murphy, who gives McGowens and Johnson someone to pass it to when they drive into the middle and draw the defense toward them. Under head coach Jeff Capel, Pitt has really taken on the look and feel of your typical ACC team and is no longer a physical and bruising team it once was under Jamie Dixon in the Big East. If those guards get hot, it could force WVU head coach Bob Huggins to switch his lineups and try to match up, which means he probably can’t play Culver and Tshiebwe together.
WILL THIS RIVALRY EVER GET BACK TO WHAT IT ONCE WAS? If it has any chance, the series needs to continue. Next season’s game in the WVU Coliseum is the final one of the four-game series that was signed back in 2016. Huggins said the issue is more about the athletic departments from both schools, rather than just the two men’s hoops teams. Huggins hinted that it’s more about getting the majority of the school’s sports to play each other. We know that the football teams will begin a four-game series starting in 2022, but we also know that the women’s basketball teams had a two-game series that ended last season and wasn’t renewed. Not sure if the latter is any indicator of what will happen with the men’s basketball series or not, but it’s certainly not the greatest sign in the world. The last time WVU played at the Pete, the majority of the fans were from West Virginia and it was far from a sellout. My guess is Pitt athletic department officials will be keeping a close eye on this game tonight in terms of the home support and atmosphere to determine whether or not this series is worth continuing. In their eyes, it can’t just be something WVU fans are interested in.
TURNING THE PANTHERS AROUND
Capel, a former Duke assistant, was brought in to not only improve a program that went 24-41 in two seasons under former coach Kevin Stallings, but to transition the Panthers into an ACC-style of team, even though Pitt’s campus is about 480 miles north of Tobacco Road. What steps has Capel taken to do just that? Take a look:
PREDICTION TIME
West Virginia is favored by 1 1/2 points, but ESPN’s match-up predictor states the Panthers have a 62.7% of winning the game. Really not sure what to make of all of that, but what I do know is WVU has had an entire week to prepare for this game, while Pitt played Nicholls State and Robert Morris. Gut feeling is WVU has its way on the glass and Emmitt Matthews will have an impact. WVU’s guards will score a little, too, but their defense will be the biggest key to the game. The feeling is WVU will win and cover, 78-73.
JUSTIN’S GAME PREDICTIONS AGAINST THE SPREAD: 1-0.
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