I love it. Apparently we’re not the only one who find the WVU Coliseum’s exterior to be an ugly mass of concrete.
Pitt is working on a five-game win streak in the rivalry – the Panthers’ longest since the 1930s – and has won three straight in Morgantown.
That’s significant because the Coliseum used to be a house of horrors for the boys from the Steel City.
Prior to the current three-game streak, Pitt won just three times in its first 23 visits to the concrete toadstool.
Lee called it a Concrete Trash Can Lid, but toadstool works too. The thing is, it doesn’t even make that “it’s so ugly, it’s charming” leap. It’s just ugly and exudes desolation.
Apparently there may be some pressure on WVU Coach John Beilein.
Still, Beilein finds himself answering questions about his program’s direction. WVU is 14-26 in regular-season Big East games in Beilein’s reign. The Mountaineers are also 0-2 in Big East tournament games and fell last season in the NIT to conference peer Rutgers.
“I wouldn’t be here if I didn’t think so,” Beilein said of becoming a first-division Big East team. “Some of it is luck, happenstance and hard work. I believe we’ll do it, but it’s hard to do it. Boston College’s best two players (Craig Smith and Jared Dudley) were not recruited by many people. You hope you find those.
“West Virginia is not an easy job in the Big East because of our location and other factors.”
That last quote should read familiar to Pitt fans. Ah, yes. The lament of Ralph Willard and Paul Evans.
WVU is 1-4 in games where attendance exceeded 10,000 at home under Beilein.
West VirginiaÂ’s only win in those five game with five-figure attendance was in late December when the Mountaineers beat George Washington 71-65. The other four times — Syracuse and Pitt in 2002-03, Pitt last season and Boston College last month — the visitors won.
And while a sellout crowd looking for a win is one thing, a packed house looking for a win over arch-rival Pitt adds even more to the setting. And Beilein, who has never beaten the Panthers, is well aware of that.
“West Virginia fans have been waiting for a while to beat Pitt, I know that,” Beilein said. “They’ve been waiting for quite a while to see us make the NCAA tournament. Those are things we want to give them.”
One additional concern for WVU is that their big man D’or Fischer has been sick. He’s listed in the starting lineup, but his status will be a game time decision. Aside from Fischer, none of their starters are taller than 6’7″. Pittsnogle comes off the bench for about 15 minutes on average, and is 6’11. They also have a 7′ Freshman, Luke Bonner, who sees about as much playing time as DeGroat has for Pitt. Slight size advantage for Pitt.
Useless factoid, Troutman needs one more point to pass Danatas Zavackas on Pitt’s all time leading scorers list.
Not that this will necessarily be a cakewalk for Pitt. WVU is a 3-point shooting team. In 8 Big East games, they have taken 207 attempts from beyond the 3-point line. (By comparison, Pitt, through 7 BE games has attempted only 100 3-point shots.) From everywhere else, they have attempted 243 shots. The fact that they are shooting under 28% from beyond the arc explains why they are 2-6. That means an emphasis on perimeter defense.
The Mountaineers average more than 26 3-point attempts per game, the most of any team in the Big East. The team with the second-most 3-point attempts is Georgetown, which averages 21 a game.
West Virginia is on pace to break the school record for 3-point attempts in a season, which was set last season with 656 in 31 games. At the current pace, the Mountaineers would shoot 806 in a 31-game season.
I might remind everyone, that Pitt lost to G-town in no small part because the Hoyas were 11-21 on 3-point shots.
To be somewhat fair, WVU doesn’t have the players to go inside a lot. The WVU players taking the majority of the 3s are Tyrone Sally (14-40) and Patrick Beilein (13-55). Krauser will probably be blanketing one of these guys on defense.
This game could be something of a challenge for Taft and Troutman on defense. They want to be closer to the basket and banging around in there. WVU will be trying to bring them out further, and shy away from contact. Add in that with the volume of 3s taken, the rebounds will be coming out further. This could lead to the big guys to drift for rebounding position, and let WVU slip inside more often.
Hopefully, though, Pitt will take care of business and the biggest problem will be the hillbilly firing off the musket.
If WVU is hitting their 3s, it will be a test for Pitt not to try to answer. Pitt has such a clear advantage inside, that it has to use it. The team can’t get caught up in trying to answer WVU’s shooting. That just leads to quick shots and long rebounds, and gives WVU more chances. If Pitt plays its deliberate style and limits their shots, the pressure only increases on WVU not to miss each time down the court. And it gets real hard to take a shot with both hands grasping your own neck.
