WVU-Pitt Notebook
February 24, 2005 12:05 AM | General
February 23, 2005
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – West Virginia’s 70-66 upset at No. 17 Pitt Wednesday night gave the Mountaineers a series sweep over their bigest rival. It was the first time Pitt has been swept in Big East regular season play since Notre Dame did it during the 2000-01 season.
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| Guard Joe Herber drew the tough assignment of guarding Pitt's Chevy Troutman and wound up scoring 11 points on the offensive end of the floor.
AP Photo/Keith Srakocic |
The famed ‘Oakland Zoo’ was quieted in the second half by a torrid-shooting WVU team that made an incredible 13 of 19 from the field for 72 percent while hitting six of eight from three in the second half.
At the end of the game after he made his free throw to ice it, Patrick Beilein ran past the Zoo tugging on his West Virginia jersey making sure Pitt students got a good look at the team that won there Wednesday night. It was a West Virginia performance for the history books and could be a catalyst for even bigger things to come.
Pitt particularly couldn’t get a handle on 6-foot-11-inch junior center Kevin Pittsnogle, who scored 20 of his game-high 22 points in the second half and made eight straight points in a two-minute stretch that helped turn a nine-point West Virginia deficit into a tie game.
Pittsnogle made the go-ahead basket with 1:08 remaining and knocked down a pair of crucial free throws with 26 seconds on the clock.
The Martinsburg native admits the win Wednesday against Pitt was an eye opener, but says his team still has a lot of work to do.
“We won against them at home which is reasonable because a good team will lose to another team on the road, but coming in their place and winning is probably a good statement for us,” said Pittsnogle.
“We know with the last two games that we have to take each one game at a time,” added Joe Herber. “Even if we lost tonight I still thought we had a chance but now it looks better.”
In addition to Pittsnogle, there were other key contributors for the Mountaineers, too.
Recognizing Pitt overplaying the wings and covering the shooters, J.D. Collins drove to the basket to make a huge layup with 2:30 left to tie the game. He also nailed a big three-point basket in the first half when things weren’t going well for West Virginia.
Herber scored most of his 11 points when Pitt was leading by double digits, and he came up with a key steal when he picked freshman Ronald Ramon’s pocket. Beilein came up with the loose ball and was fouled with 14.1 seconds left. He made one of two free throws to put the Mountaineers up by five.
It was Herber who drew the tough assignment of guarding 6-foot-7, 240-pound forward Chevy Troutman. Herber held Troutman, who scored 25 in a previous game against West Virginia, to 10 fewer points than his Morgantown total.
“I just tried to keep putting a body on him and sometimes it’s just a matter of getting a lucky bounce,” said Herber of guarding Troutman. “I think we were hustling to him all game and maybe we got a little bit more aggressive at the end and I think that was important.”
Beilein came off the bench to score 12 points including making two big threes and four of six from the free throw line.
Tyrone Sally finished with three points below his season average of 12.9 points per game, but it was his aggressive drives to the basket that helped made room for Pittsnogle on the wing.
West Virginia’s win over the No. 17-rated Panthers was its second against a nationally ranked team on the road this year and the fourth ranked win overall for the Mountaineers, though only Pitt still remains in the rankings.
“It’s definitely (a huge win) considering it’s at the end of the season and the position it puts us in,” Herber said.
West Virginia has now beaten six nationally ranked teams under Coach John Beilein in three seasons and seven, if you count the Maryland win last year (the No. 24 Terrapins were only ranked in the USA Today/ESPN Coaches Poll).
The Mountaineers have now won 45 times against nationally ranked teams.
More notes from Wednesday night’s game:
“They’re going to end up with maybe 19 or 20 wins, they’re going to end up over .500 in the league and if they do they should be in so maybe the Big East gets eight,” said analyst Mike Jarvis.
“Both Mike and I know how good of a coach John Beilein is and what he’s done at West Virginia,” added analyst Fran Fraschilla. “It is remarkable what he’s done there this season with them being way off the radar screen.”
