West Virginia, Pitt Set to Battle in the 187th Backyard Brawl

Morgantown, WV – The West Virginia Mountaineers (1-0) and the Pitt Panthers (2-1) will meet in the Backyard Brawl for the third time in as many years after nearly a six-year hiatus on Friday night. 

West Virginia is currently enjoying a three-game winning streak over the Panthers and leads the all-time series 98-88, but since the turn of the century, Pitt holds a 17-11 record over the Mountaineers.

Pitt opened the season at home inside the Peterson Event Center November 6th with a conference win over Florida State. Three days later, the Panthers fell at home to Nicholls State led by former Mountaineer D'Angelo Hunter. 

The loss to the Colonels forced Panthers head coach Jeff Capel to tinker with his rotation, inserting guard Ryan Murphy into the starting lineup against Robert Morris.

Forward Terrell Brown also earned his spot among the starters following a five-block performance in the loss to Nicholls State and an average of 10.5 points per over the first two contests.

Despite Murphy’s hot start and leading the team in scoring (17 ppg), the two guards that keep the Panther motor running are Xavier Johnson (10.0 ppg/5.7 rpg) and Trey McGowens (15.0 ppg/6.7 rpg). The two combined for 39 of the 59 points in the loss to West Virginia last year.

“McGowens played terrific in the second half against Robert Morris,” said Huggins. “I mean, he did everything. He rebounded it. He drove the ball to the basket. He was really, really, good. I think he was something like eight-of-thirteen from the floor and had eight rebounds. So, he gets 25 and eight. That’s a pretty good day.”

Rounding out the starting five is sophomore guard Au’Diese Toney (6-6, 210-lbs). He’ll do most of his damage in the paint. However, Toney’s had a slow start to the season, scoring only 14 points through three games. 

Jeff Capel will most likely turn to freshman guard Justin Champagnie (6-6, 200-lbs) as the first Panther off the bench if Terrell Brown is not in early foul trouble.

Huggins later noted the Panther's strengths, “Brown, for instance, had seven assists. So, he’s penetrating and pitching it,” he explained. “And they really do look to penetrate and pitch into Murphy. He’s widened things out for them, so that McGowens and Johnson can get the ball at the basket. (Justin) Champagnie has started to make some shots for them. So, they can spread you a little bit more. When you spread, those guys are really good at rejecting ball screens. They’re good straight-line drivers.”

Pitt has some size at guard but when it comes to their forwards, the Panthers haven’t had much success outside of Brown. Six-foot-nine forward Eric Hamilton started the first two games of the season, but after a four-point performance in the opener against Florida State and a slow start against Nicholls State, the senior has seen his minutes diminish.

Overall, Pitt lacks size and depth - both areas that favor West Virginia. A big key for the Mountaineers will be the handling of the Panther four-guard look. Pitt will spread West Virginia out, testing Derek Culver's and Oscar Tshiebwe's ability to defend along the perimeter.

Along with a rejuvenated Chase Harler and an improved Logan Routt, first-year players Taz Sherman, Sean McNeil and Deuce McBride have shown they can be productive on both ends of the floor. 

McBride had a big debut in the win over Akron, tallying 11 points along with four assists, six rebounds and four steals in 29 minutes of play.  

Derek Culver totaled 16 points and seven rebounds in the opener after only scoring seven in the exhibition game against Duquesne. 

Emmitt Mathews Jr. has been solid to start the season. The sophomore converted on three three-point attempts in just over the first five minutes against Akron and finished the game with 13 points and seven rebounds.

However, with the Mountaineer veterans mainly made up of second-year players, there is still a lot to improve upon.

“We’ve watched a lot of film,” as Huggins began to comment on what the team has done with their time off. “We’ve watched a lot more film than what we normally do of ourselves. I think that your good things really stand out in film as well as your transgressions. So, they got a chance to see the things that they did well and that the things they didn’t do very well. I think that really help. I think by in large, our guys really do want to watch film and really do want some feedback on their play.”

The biggest concern for the Mountaineers coming into the game will be on the defensive end. More importantly, after Huggins vocalized his frustration with his team's lack of rebounding against the Zips, West Virginia will look to lean on its size advantage in the paint.

West Virginia will need to stop straight-line drives and be more efficient with its off-the-ball defense.  

West Virginia and Pitt tip-off at 7:00 pm on ESPNU on Friday night.