MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – Regional college basketball bragging rights are on the line once again when West Virginia plays host to Pitt in the 186^threnewal of the Backyard Brawl Saturday afternoon at the WVU Coliseum.
 
These two long-time combatants renewed hostilities last year in Pittsburgh after a six-year hiatus with West Virginia claiming a 69-60 victory at the Petersen Events Center.
 
The Mountaineers had control of the game with an 18-point lead early in the second half until guards Jevon Carter and Daxter Miles Jr. went to the bench with four fouls each. Soon, Pitt whittled an 18-point WVU advantage to two with less than six minutes remaining.
 
Then, Carter returned to the floor and so did West Virginia's comfortable margin.
 
This year, West Virginia (5-3) has found life without Carter and Miles Jr. in the backcourt difficult at times.
 
WVU dropped its season opener to Buffalo 99-94 in overtime because it couldn't hold onto the basketball and make winning plays down the stretch.
 
It was the same deal a week later in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, when 22 turnovers and 33.3 percent shooting contributed to a 63-57 loss to Western Kentucky in the semifinals of the Myrtle Beach Invitational.
 
Earlier this week, following a modest four-game winning streak over St. Joseph's, Valparaiso, Rider and Youngstown State, some of those same issues popped up again against Florida in the Jimmy V Classic in Madison Square Garden.
 
West Virginia shot just 29.7 percent and committed 21 turnovers against the Gators' quarter-court trapping defense.
 
Guard Chase Harler was the only Mountaineer player to reach double figures with 11 points, while top four scorers Esa Ahmad, Sagaba Konate, Lamont West and Beetle Bolden shot a combined 6-of-25 while committing nine turnovers.
 
Konate was just 2-of-10 from the floor with five turnovers in 18 minutes of work before fouling out.
 
WVU was 7-of-23 from 3-point distance and was outscored 28 to 11 at the free throw line by the Gators.
 
Pitt, too, is coming off a stinging, 71-70 defeat earlier this week to Niagara on Monday night in Pittsburgh after getting off to a solid 7-1 start under new coach Jeff Capel.
 
The 7-2 Panthers ran off early victories over Youngstown State, VMI, Troy, Central Arkansas, North Alabama and Saint Louis before dropping a 69-68 decision at 14^th-ranked Iowa in the Big Ten-ACC Challenge on Nov. 27.
 
Then, a 21-point victory over Duquesne in the annual City Game preceded its surprising loss at the hands of Niagara.
 
The 3-4 Purple Eagles shot 48.2 percent from the floor and outrebounded the Panthers 38-31 in a back-and-forth game that saw 10 lead changes.
 
Niagara outscored Pitt 28-20 in the paint and 22-17 off its bench.
 
The Panthers got 19 points from freshman guard Xavier Johnson and 12 each from freshman guards Trey McGowens and Au'Diese Toney.
 
Pitt is using a four-guard starting lineup consisting of 6-9 junior Kene Chukwuka at center with Johnson, McGowens, Toney and 6-6 junior Malik Ellison in the backcourt.
 
A couple of familiar names from last year's meeting in Pittsburgh - guard Jared Wilson-Frame and forward Shamiel Stevenson - come off the bench this year for Capel.
 
Pitt is touting Wilson-Frame as one of the top sixth men in the ACC this year with his early 13.4 points per game average and 50.0 shooting percentage.
 
Johnson, from Woodbridge, Virginia, is leading the Panthers with 16.3 points per game while McGowens and Ellison are each averaging 10.2 points per contest.
 
"I see Duke when I watch their tape," West Virginia coach Bob Huggins said. "They're straight-line drive guys, and they put tremendous amount of pressure on the rim. They want to play fast and they've got three guys shooting over 43 percent from 3 so they get you spread and attack you."
 
West Virginia has been starting a pair of juniors in its backcourt in Harler and Bolden, but uses freshmen ball handlers Brandon Knapper and Jordan McCabe as well. First-year junior college transfer Jermaine Haley has also played a good number of minutes so Saturday's outcome could come down to which inexperienced backcourt can play more effectively.
 
WVU should have an advantage near the glass with Ahmad, West, 6-11 Logan Routt, 6-8 Wesley Harris and 6-7 Emmitt Matthews Jr., but that wasn't the case last year when the Panthers outrebounded the Mountaineers 38-32.
 
Saturday's appearance will be Pitt's first in Morgantown since Jan. 20, 2012 when both schools were still members of the Big East Conference. Pitt won the game 72-66 - one of seven victories the Panthers enjoyed in the Coliseum during a 10-year span from 2002 to 2012.
 
This will be Pitt's 90^th trip to Morgantown where the Mountaineers enjoy an all-time 59-30 record against the Panthers, including a 24-10 mark at the Coliseum.
 
Huggins is 5-7 against Pitt while at West Virginia and 5-9 overall; he lost twice to the Panthers when he coached at Akron. Capel is 1-0 against the Mountaineers, having led Oklahoma to an 88-82 overtime victory over WVU at the Charleston Civic Center in 2007.
 
This will be Capel's first trip to the Coliseum as a player or coach.
 
Saturday's game will tip at noon to accommodate ESPN2 national television coverage (Rich Hollenberg and Fran Fraschilla). The Mountaineers Sports Network from IMG's radio coverage (Tony Caridi and Jay Jacobs) begins at 11 a.m. on stations throughout West Virginia and online via WVUsports.com and the popular mobile app TuneIn.
 
The game is sold out and Huggins is hopeful an energetic student section can pick up his team following its disappointing performance up in New York City.
 
"Our guys are down and to walk in the Coliseum and all of the ambiance of 14,000 people going crazy can do nothing but lift your spirits and give you a little motivation," Huggins said. "We're not quite playing as well as we did and we need you."
 
Pregame Notes: Saturday's game will be just Pitt's second true road contest of the season … The Panthers' games against Saint Louis and Duquesne were at neutral sites … the only common opponent is Youngstown State, which Pitt defeated 69-53 and West Virginia beat 106-72 … Five of Pitt's top six scorers are first-year players … The Panthers have the second-best field goal percentage defense in the ACC this week allowing opponents to shoot just .379 percent … West Virginia has won five in a row and eight of its last nine games against ACC foes … Huggins said before Friday's practice that he doesn't expect Konate will be able to play on Saturday against the Panthers ... Konate was unable to practice Thursday, according to Huggins  ... Bolden currently owns the best career 3-point shooting percentage in school history; the junior is converting 42.1 percent of his 242 3-point attempts … Ahmad and Harler are the only two players to start all eight games this season … Nine different Mountaineers have started at least one game so far this season.

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