MORGANTOWN — The challenge awaits inside the Petersen Events Center. The question will be whether it’s the WVU or Pitt men’s basketball team who is ready to meet it.
The jury may be out on that one, at least that’s the story being told by both head coaches.
“Any time you go into your first road game, and it’s a really good opponent like Pitt, and it’s a rivalry game, you’re going to get really tested,” WVU head coach Darian DeVries said. “That’s something you can’t really prepare for until you’re in that situation and that environment and you see how your guys respond.”
Pitt coach Jeff Capel, who won his first Backyard Brawl game last season with an 80-63 victory in Morgantown, also ponders publicly how his players will meet the challenge.
“We know the juice will be a lot different in here on Friday,” Capel said following the Panthers’ 83-64 victory against Gardner-Webb on Monday. “The competition level will be increased, the level of talent. All of those things, we understand that. We are excited about it to see where we are against that level of competition.”
What we do know is WVU (2-0) will travel to Pittsburgh at 8 p.m. Friday with 12 scholarship players and a fresh coaching staff, none of whom have ever been a part of this rivalry series.
Meanwhile, Pitt (3-0) continues to be on the upswing in Capel’s rebuilding of the Panthers’ program.
It was just two years ago when Capel had finished his fourth consecutive losing season with the Panthers and found himself on the hot seat.
Since then, he’s 49-23, and he’s got a well-balanced offensive team this season with four players averaging double figures and the Panthers are fourth in the ACC in scoring, averaging 87.3 points per game.
“When you’re looking at them, it’s like they know exactly what they’re going to get,” DeVries said of Pitt. “It’s up to you to try and stop it. It’s difficult to do.”
Neither team has been tested to this point, with WVU’s 75-69 victory against UMass last week the closest thing to any adversity. The Mountaineers held an 18-point lead at one point in the second half and held a lead for nearly 36 minutes.
Pitt’s margin of victory in its three wins is 24.7 points.
The Panthers do have the top gun heading into the game with senior guard Ishmael Leggett. The 6-foot-5 guard leads Pitt in both scoring (19.7) and rebounding (8.3).
“We know it’s going to be a dog fight,” Leggett said. “We feel like we’ve prepared for the dog fight these last three games. We have felt each other out and now it’s time to put all the pieces together and do what we do best.”
But the Panthers also have a combination of guards in Jaland Lowe and Houston transfer Damion Dunn who will also be a threat. They combine for 30 points and seven assists per game.
“They have more balance and more talent across the board,” than anything WVU saw in its first two games, DeVries said. “They have size. They have speed. They have skill. They’re a very complete team.”
WVU will counter with a defense that’s been the story of its season to this point.
That defense led to a 21-0 lead to start the season-opening win against Robert Morris, and then met a physical challenge against a gritty UMass team.
Neither team shot better than 28.6% from 3-point range against the Mountaineers, but this latest Brawl may turn into more of a track meet than a long-range game of H-O-R-S-E.
“I don’t think you ever know how a game plays out, but I do know they like to get out and run. We like to get out and run,” DeVries said. “I certainly anticipate both teams wanting to run. If the defenses allow us to do that, we’ll see.
“They’re very aggressive in transition and have multiple guys who put a lot of pressure on the rim. I think that’s what makes them tough to stop is they’re just so balanced.”
