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February 7, 2007

Half-hour to game time.

7:40: 8-4 Pitt, Graves heading to the line fouled with 15:52 in the half. Good energy from Pitt. Thrilled to see more than just Gray getting after the offensive boards.

7:50: Pitt leading 12-4 11:51 left. Sam Young is looking very good on both ends tonight. WVU’s shots aren’t falling — right now. Need to build up the lead because they will start falling, and with the 3, they can catch up really fast.

7:56: Pitt now up 16-7. Pitt is running more to keep WVU out of their 1-3-1 and it is working. Part of the reason why Sam Young is looking so good in this game, as well.

8:01: Pitt up 18-10, 7:34 to half. Gray better adjust to the fact that he won’t get a call tonight. The refs are not giving the inside players anything.

8:14: A bad gamble on defense let Alexander score and fire up the crowd a bit. Pitt still leads 25-14 with 2:21 to the half. WVU is still struggling with their perimeter shooting.

8:19: Pitt leads 27-17 at the half. Graves had a nice drive to the hoop, but the defense didn’t give and the shot couldn’t fall to end the half. The Mountaineers only shot 3-16 on 3s and 3-9 elsewhere. They are taking — even for them — too many 3s. Pitt has struggled going 0-4 from outside, but not taking many 3s has limited that. Otherwise, Pitt has shot 12-19 from the rest of the field.

Sam Young has 8 points on 4-5 shooting and a bunch of rebounds. Gray and Graves each have 6.

Da’Sean Butler has been the only thing working for WVU. 8 points and 2-3 on threes.

8:43: Here comes the Hoopie run as Frank Young scores 5 points in a 7-2 spurt to close it to 7 points. 16:14 in the game. Gray bricked 2 free throws.

8:52: Sam Young is having his best game ever. 16 points and crashing the boards. Frank Young has cramped up.

Pitt now up 37-24 with 13:52 left. Mike Cook made a sweet little pass out of the double team for Young’s slam.

9:00: 11:20 left Pitt up 41-26. Pitt is playing a solid team game. They are feeding the hot hand — Sam Young. The defense isn’t letting up. This is such a solid game.
Georgetown just put away Louisville 73-65.

9:09: Pitt up 49-33 with 7:13 in the game. Ramon has drilled a couple 3s. The only negative in this game has been Gray not hitting any free throws.

9:18: WVU has gotten hot and like any young team, when their offense starts working, they get more intense on defense. That’s the short answer how they went on a 14-3 run to get it to 49-45 before Sam Young hit a big 3.

Then dumb mistake when Ramon and Young both went for a rebound that let Frank Young grab it and get fouled and heading to the line after the break.
3:35 left, Pitt up 52-45.

9:27: And that was it for WVU. Frank Young missed his FTs. Pitt continued the run and Gray dropped 2 FTs and now Ramon has hit 4 straight FTs.   WVU finally scored to snap an 11-0 run by Pitt.
Pitt withstood a couple hot streaks from WVU — never panicked and adjusted.

60-47 Pitt wins.

Sam Young had 21 points and 7 rebounds. Definitely a career night.

Gray finished with a 14-9 points-rebounds. The team shot 24-43, and held WVU to 16-50 shooting.





Alright, Lets do this!!!

Comment by Matt 02.07.07 @ 7:30 pm

The game is on MASN again for folks in the DC/Baltimore area.

Unrelated to the WVU game, is anyone here going to the Pitt-Georgetown game in a few weeks?

Comment by Sean 02.07.07 @ 7:47 pm

Pitt proving tonight that lots of ball movement is the way to defeat the 1-3-1 zone.

Comment by Eric R 02.07.07 @ 8:09 pm

Nice start to the game

Comment by Jimbo B 02.07.07 @ 8:10 pm

I’ll be at the Gtown game….driving from allentown…I’ll be at the seton hall game too

Comment by Joe 02.07.07 @ 8:15 pm

God, feels like they should be up at least 15. Some pretty good play coming off such a long layoff. Gray gets a little more assertive, makes some hoops, opens up some open 3s for Fields and Ramon, and this will be a 12-15 point win. WVU isn’t hitting, but a lot of that is good D. They’ve had a few open looks, but not many.

Comment by Carmen 02.07.07 @ 8:23 pm

Up by 10 at the half is awesome. Good half by Sam Young. I’m tracking the game and it shows that WVU has attempted 16 three pointers? Good thing that they are shooting like poop.

Comment by Panthoor 02.07.07 @ 8:23 pm

We look solid, but they’re gonna make a run in the 2nd half….gotta stay tough.

Comment by Joe 02.07.07 @ 8:24 pm

Good first half after the long layoff. Pitt is clearly the much better team here. Sam young is playing outstanding, and I think his play will be key for Pitt to go deep in the NCAAs…. WVU’s Frank Young on the other hand, totally sucks tonight, shooting 0 for 6 (0 for 5 from 3). Hopefully we get the same kind of performance out of both Youngs in the 2nd half. GO PITT

Comment by Matt 02.07.07 @ 8:25 pm

You can always count on Young for some dumb turnovers, but he is playing a great game. Is it me, or is WVU way overplaying on the wing. There should be backdoors galore, but haven’t seen a one.

Comment by Carmen 02.07.07 @ 8:40 pm

here comes the run we better hold tight

Comment by Joe 02.07.07 @ 8:42 pm

Hmm, maybe Sam is our go-to-guy. Very confusing, this go-to-guy stuff.

Comment by steve 02.07.07 @ 8:48 pm

At halftime:

Wisky: 34
PSU: 29

Seriously.

Comment by Dennis 02.07.07 @ 8:50 pm

Young is playing out of his mind…how about that off reb and put back

Comment by Joe 02.07.07 @ 8:52 pm

Levon gets two..

…and then has them taken away on the charge.

Comment by Dennis 02.07.07 @ 8:54 pm

Have we chucked up a 3 yet? Don’t think so.

Comment by steve 02.07.07 @ 8:54 pm

Whoops, spoke too soon.

Comment by steve 02.07.07 @ 8:55 pm

Young looks like my hero right now. Levon Kendall is playing like Levon Kendall right now.

Comment by Panthoor 02.07.07 @ 8:56 pm

Kendall is just having one of those games. That was a good move to the hoop. Couuld just have easily been a no call. He’s come around a bit the last few games. There is hope for him yet.

Comment by Carmen 02.07.07 @ 8:59 pm

I love Kendall because of the haircut….and the piano playing. He plays like he is out of position at times which is not the case. He is a must have though because the man would cut off his left leg if he could trip the other guy legally. I wish he would average 10 and 8, that would be the best we can ask for.

Comment by Panthoor 02.07.07 @ 9:03 pm

No, Ramon is our go-to-guy, I’m sure.

Comment by steve 02.07.07 @ 9:06 pm

Game just turned into a 4 point differential.

Comment by Dennis 02.07.07 @ 9:15 pm

what are they doing?

Comment by Joe 02.07.07 @ 9:15 pm

Wow, 16 turnovers…not good.

Comment by Jon in NOVA 02.07.07 @ 9:15 pm

Way to box out.

Comment by Jon in NOVA 02.07.07 @ 9:16 pm

nice 3! young is a beast tonight

Comment by sammy 02.07.07 @ 9:16 pm

Does Bucky Waters have a frickin’ clue? Pitt with 5 turnovers for the game? Sam Young with leg cramps? UGGGHHH!

Comment by Kevin 02.07.07 @ 9:17 pm

great job weathering the storm this will be a big road win

Comment by Joe 02.07.07 @ 9:24 pm

This was a good win for us. Young, watch this game over and over again…please.

Comment by Panthoor 02.07.07 @ 9:25 pm

BIG WIN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Comment by schoe 02.07.07 @ 9:25 pm

how did sam young go for 20+ w/ those horrible leg cramps?? amazing. i think bucky has a bottle of jim beam under the table tonight.

Comment by Scott 02.07.07 @ 9:26 pm

Cha-Ching! Nice W!!! Looking forward to the homestand! Peace out fellas.

Comment by Matt 02.07.07 @ 9:28 pm

Nice win…but way to many turnovers and very sub par free throw shooting.

Comment by Jon in NOVA 02.07.07 @ 9:29 pm

Haven’t looked at the box score tonight, but it looked like WVU shot absolutely horrific from watching the game. An EXCELLENT road win for Pitt. Not sure how the RPI rates wins like this, but with WVU being undefeated at home, that’s a tough place to play. To win by nearly 15 points there is unbelievable.

Some things that stuck out to me:

1. Cook had another bad game in my opinion…haven’t seen the box score yet, but don’t think he did well.

2. If Young plays even half as well as he did tonight, then that makes us so much better as a team.

Comment by PittHoops 02.07.07 @ 9:32 pm

Yeah, but Belein’s junk zone does that to literally every team they face. It’s unfortunate, but a win in Morgantown is always tough to come by.

Comment by RWill 02.07.07 @ 9:33 pm

Good day for us Panther fans today… a great football recruiting class signed and we made WVU look middle of the pack. GO PITT!

Comment by Panthoor 02.07.07 @ 9:53 pm

If Young is going to play like he did tonight, I think we need to hope that Kendall gets in foul trouble more often!

Comment by Sean 02.07.07 @ 10:01 pm

Excellent win. We destroyed the Mountaineers this evening. Sam Young! Wow! He plays like that and we win the national championship. Seriously.

Comment by Omar 02.07.07 @ 10:05 pm

I’ve been waiting all year for Sam to break out – well tonight was the night. How does Kendall get so much playing time on a top ten team? Please get him out of there unless Gray has 4 fould in the first half. Good win on the road.

Comment by Rex 02.08.07 @ 7:57 am

Good win on the road.

Comment by Joey T 02.08.07 @ 8:10 am

Coming out party for young?? c’mon guys, this kid had the most upside on the team LAST year, he’s been battling ongoing injuries all year. He’s going to be up and down the whole trip it looks like. He was my fav. player on the team since I saw him last year in pre-season. He’s got so much untapped potential. C’mon Pitt trainers, rub down those legs/knees and get this kid on the floor!

Comment by Mike 02.08.07 @ 8:29 am

Cook’s lack of scoring is disappointing. He badly missed the few open looks he had. He continues to sort of lolly gag on the perimeter, not working to get open shots. He posts up occasionally, but I’m not convinced he can really do anything once he gets the ball in the block. He’s had a few good games, but too many times he looks like he really doesn’t understand or doesn’t care to get involved in the flow of the offense.

Pitt is winning and, I think, playing some really good basketball. But it would be a huge bonus once we get to the tournament if Cook, who it appears can be a solid scorer, would do the kind of things he needs to do to be a real offensive contributor. Against the top quality teams, we’ll need everybody to really be at the top of their games.

Comment by Carmen 02.08.07 @ 8:30 am

due to my laziness and espn’s stupidity, i wasnt able to watch the game….was our defense great, or was WVU just missing open looks?

Comment by Schoe 02.08.07 @ 8:59 am

At times in the game the D looked very good indeed!

Cook does look confused/lackadasical at times and he as for several games now. Why he insists on taking it inside against multiple defenders when recently it has been opposing teams MO to collapse on him is beyond me. Also his lackadasical passing at times leads to TOs. He needs to quit trying so hard and let the game come to him and work off the ball to get better open shots.

Young has the potential to do what he did last night on a consistent basis if he keeps his head in the game, let the game come to him, and most importantly is given a chance to get signigicant minutes. Also, while he seems to excel at the 4, his futrue is at the 3 and once he gets that down he will a BEAST in the Big East!

Was it me or did Kenndall’s driving to the hole seem to come from Young doing so well?

Comment by Kenny 02.08.07 @ 10:08 am

Cook doesn’t look confident trying to score right now. The way he got stuffed on the lay-up attempt late in the game was disappointing. There is no way that would have happened two weeks ago, he at least would have drawn the foul. Hopefully the coaches work with him and get him going. He can be a real asset with his scoring. On a positive note his passing has been excellent and was again last night. At least he isn’t being selfish which could really hurt the team.

Comment by Omar 02.08.07 @ 10:11 am

I beg to differ on Cooks passing. While he has been passing to other players, the last several games his passing at times has been horrendous when the D collapses on him. In those situations he has been telegraphing them and the opposing team has had ample opportunity to pounce on them.

Comment by Kenny 02.08.07 @ 10:29 am

Yes Kenny, that play where Cook was double teamed on the baseline and found Sam Young for an emphatic dunk was a horrible pass when trapped. Please.

Comment by Omar 02.08.07 @ 10:45 am

Cook was trapped because he consistently dribbles into the corner and baseline areas and gets stuck. He got lucky and got bailed out that time with a lucky dish. Because nobody has to respect his jumper, he’s easy to guard. Everybody knows he wants to drive, so they give him room and that makes him ineffective. Most of the time, I’d rather have Benjamin on thh floor for the defense and rebounding.

Comment by clyde vaughan 02.08.07 @ 10:56 am

One that was a good pass that he was able to get 4′ to Sam but what about the cross court passes that are telegraphed? I call it like I see it. Cook was lucky to get the pass to Sam because as cv just said he dribbles into boxes and double teams.

Comment by Kenny 02.08.07 @ 11:38 am

By far the best part of the game was Bucky Waters getting confused about Sam Young and Frank Young. When he made the statement that “they should hope that Young gets cramps like this every night”, it was just tremendous. It sounded like he was wishing cramps on Frank Young, who was having a tough night already. The cameraman was switching back and forth between Sam and Frank, trying to figure out what the hell Bucky was talking about…..

Comment by clyde vaughan 02.08.07 @ 11:44 am

wvu-ucla should be a good comparison game. if wvu plays like they did last night, they’ll lose by 50. i doubt alexander and young can shoot as bad as they did last night, so my guess is the game will be decent.

Comment by clyde vaughan 02.08.07 @ 11:48 am

Schoe –

To answer your question about WVU, it was a little bit of both. The defense was again very solid, but they missed a bunch of good clean looks. They got hot with a few minutes left and got within 4 (I think).

Pitt had a 10 point lead at the half, but WVU shot very poorly. Not sure what the FG% was, but they shot 32% for the game and it looked like they shot better in the 2nd half, so obviously it wasn’t very good.

Not saying our defense had nothing to do with it – they played above average defense and contested many shots. But Gray got pulled out to the 3-point line on more than one occasion and when he did that, he got burned.

If WVU even shoots decently, it’s a much closer game (as evidenced by the hot streak they went on late in the 2nd half when they pulled to four).

One last point – we turned the ball over 16 times and also only forced 9. So while the defense played well as far as contesting shots, we weren’t able to get them to play sloppy.

Comment by PittHoops 02.08.07 @ 11:51 am

Pitt does not force a lot of turnovers. I think they are ranked something like 300 in defensive turnover pct. The players are taught not to gamble for steals and turnovers, but rather to force bad shots. WVU was not getting open and many of their shots were contested. Additionally they were frustrated and threw up some pretty stupid shots on their own as well. Pitt’s defense had everything to do with this as Mr. Belien stated in the post-game conference.

WVU got back into the game as soon as Kendall stepped on to the floor. WVU is a horrible match-up for him and it showed. I think our sloppy play down the stretch had more to do with WVU getting back into the game.

Comment by Omar 02.08.07 @ 12:08 pm

To second your point Omar – at one point Sam Young overcommitted on a steal attempt and that Alexander kid busted him for it, throwing down his dunk. I think WVU’s late run was a combination of Fields getting a breather and Beilein switching defenses, we turned the ball over a couple times and took some bad shots, letting WVU run and gettingquick uncontested shots for WVU.

Sam and Frank Young both went into Bucky’s head and got conjealed into one potent basketball player. Of course, this is the same guy who after the Syracuse game said Fields had scored 20 against the team WVU had just played.

Comment by Kevin 02.08.07 @ 12:15 pm

Thank you Pitt!!!

Comment by Couches of Morgantown 02.08.07 @ 12:30 pm

Yeah, I understand that Pitt doesn’t get a lot of turnovers most of the time, but we can’t say that all of WVUs shots were contested – I clearly remember more than a few that were either wide open looks or partially contested.

The defense definitely played well and most of the shots were well guarded, but WVU had a downright miserable shooting night. I can’t believe that 32% from the field was due ALL in part to our defense.

One prime example was the blown layup by WVU that I think would have cut it to two. Most of the 3 point shots were contested, but they did manage to get some clean looks, too.

Comment by PittHoops 02.08.07 @ 12:44 pm

I agree, the blown layup was huge.

Comment by Omar 02.08.07 @ 1:24 pm

Yeah, that layup really could have made things sticky.

Not to look too far into it because it’s a moot point, but if they make that layup, Pitt would have only been up by two. If I remember correctly, Young then hit that big three soon. If that’s the case, then maybe Pitt, up only two, doesn’t take that shot.

Again, I don’t want to read that far ahead because WVU can’t turn back time. But it was a very big turning point in my opinion.

Comment by PittHoops 02.08.07 @ 1:46 pm

Yes it was a big, big, play. However, it was a pretty tough layup and Alexander wasn’t playing his best. Not 100% surprised that he missed it.

Comment by Omar 02.08.07 @ 2:22 pm

You’re right…I’ve seen/heard it mentioned that it was an uncontested layup. If I remember correctly, there was a Pitt player around the basket and the WVU player was kind of coming in at a weird angle. So it was far from a ‘gimme.’

Comment by PittHoops 02.08.07 @ 2:26 pm

I don’t buy much of the stuff about contested shots last night. Frank Young’s first 4 3-pt attempts were wide open and Alexander missed at least 3 wide-open 3s as well. They were too hyped at home for the backyard brawl and shot worse than they ever do at the Coliseum. I watched the game a 2nd time last night on the DVR and couldn’t believe how many wide-open 3s and layups WVU blew last night, not to mention futzing up a couple fast breaks where they had a man advantage. I’ll take a win down there anytime, so I’m not complaining, but Pitt didn’t get WVU’s best punch.

Comment by clyde vaughan 02.08.07 @ 3:32 pm

O.K., we got luck with that layup. I agree. But as I was watching the game at Sikly’s (good food, bad service) last night I felt something that I haven’t felt in a very long time – confidence. No matter how good Pitt’s been in the past few years my pessimistic nature has always caused me to fret. And yet, last night’s game wasn’t that stressful for me. Maybe I’m getting too blithe, but I don’t think that covers it. I think it has something to do with the mental toughness of this team. I was worried at times, but I was never panicky becuase I had faith that the guys would adjust as necessary and just wear WVU down. Even if that layup had gone in, I think they’d have been o.k.

Now let’s just enjoy the victory and hope it gives our guys some momentum for this home stand!

Comment by Shawn 02.08.07 @ 4:31 pm

[…] reactions, glance over the liveblog Chas posted and his thoughts over at the AOL FanHouse. TrackBack URI |   ∅comments […]


Pitt played great defense last night. That is why WVU shot such a pathetic percentage. Their coach said as much so why speculate.

Comment by Omar 02.08.07 @ 5:19 pm

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