Pitt, the nation's newest #4 team in the polls, continued their dominant ways with a 70-59 win over West Virginia in front of a raucous crowd at the Pete that included Dan Rooney and Jeff Reed, who apparently goes to every athletic contest held within the city limits. The win runs Pitt's record to an impressive 22-2, and that's six out of the last seven against the Mountaineers.
The Mountaineers had some foul trouble, eventually losing Alex Ruoff and Da'Sean Butler, but I have little sympathy in that department after the trials and tribulations of Dejuan Blair this season (who incidentally picked up four, including a technical, in this contest). Digger Phelps felt in his postgame analysis that the refs called the game too tight, but both teams dealt with the same officials. Pitt was simply the better squad on this evening, showing some suffocating defense while outrebounding WVU by a 34-22 count.
Sam Young led the Panthers with 20 points and seven boards, while Levance Fields contributed 13 points and seven assists. Blair, the only member of the Panthers that rode on a Steeler parade float, added eight points and nine rebounds. Ruoff topped Team Huggins with 17 points.
Pitt next faces Huggins' old employer, Cincinnati, (6-5, 16-8) on Saturday, then it's the Game of the Year (to this point) against #1 UConn on ESPN's Big Monday next week. I could hear the announcers drooling over that one, and for good measure; Pitt-UConn is as good as it gets in college hoops. I'll take that over Duke-Carolina any day.
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