Staff picks: Can Pitt win the Brawl?
The Pitt Panthers enter Wednesday night’s game with a 4-3 record and having lost three out of their past four games. There won’t be any sort of reprieve either, as Pitt travels down to Morgantown to face West Virginia for the 190th meeting of the Backyard Brawl.
West Virginia has dominated the recent series between the two bitter rivals and the Mountaineers have won six consecutive meetings, including an 81-56 decision last year in Pittsburgh. A lot changed has changed since that meeting.
West Virginia relieved longtime coach Bob Huggins amid controversy. The fallout there then led to a revamped roster for this season. The Mountaineers are now led by interim coach Josh Eilert, who has the team off to a 3-4 start this year.
West Virginia has been led by three players in particular this season. 6’9” senior Quinn Slazinski leads the team with 16.7 points per game. Slazinski began his career at Louisville, then had some success at Iona before landing at Morgantown. Pitt fans should be very familiar with Jesse Edwards, a 6’11” center who was the starting center at Syraucuse the past two seasons. Edwards averages 15 points and 10 rebounds per game. The third player to watch is homegrown Kobe Johnson, a role player for two years before elevating his playing time and production this season.
There has been some change in Morgantown, but one thing won't be different and that’s the challenge of playing at the WVU Coliseum. Pitt is 10-27 all-time at the home arena of its rival. Can Pitt snap the current two-game losing streak this season while also notching a win over West Virginia for the first time since 2012? The Panther-Lair.com staff gives their picks.
Stephen Gertz (6-2): I am going to stay the course here: I had the Pittsburgh Panthers going 2-2 during this stretch of non-conference games against P5 competition. The fact this is their first road game makes me a little nervous, but I think they will get back on track. This is not your older brother's press Virginia team. Quite the opposite. In fact, this West Virginia Mountaineers team ranks in the bottom-15 in the entire country when it comes to turning opposing teams over. They are also very inefficient on offense and play at one of the slowest paces in the country. I would expect them to grind out as many possessions as possible. West Virginia does not send their opponents to the free throw line very often, but given that Pitt is not good from the charity stripe that should not really matter. The Panthers really just need four solid contributors on offense and a small amount of production off their bench to win this one. If Federiko Federiko can win the battle against Jesse Edwards, I do not see the Mountaineers being able to keep pace with Pitt.
Prediction: Pitt 74-69
Jim Hammett (6-2): Pitt has certainly not lived up to the hype of its first four games once the schedule picked up starting with the NIT tip-off. The Panthers have had trouble getting all of their parts clicking on the same night, but one guy who has been there, even in some recent losses, is Blake Hinson. For Pitt, that’s a good place to start. Hinson is going to embrace the villain role in Morgantown and won’t be shy about firing shots from anywhere on the court and now he just needs his teammates to match that kind of fearlessness on offense. Hinson scored 22 against Missouri and 27 versus Clemson and as long as he is providing offense, Pitt has a chance to win any game. I never expected offense to be an issue with this team, but Clemson and Missouri definitely pushed them out of the paint and forced them into some tough shots. The Panthers need to be in attack mode and their antennas need to be up here, because while this is a tough place to play, this is not a classic West Virginia team. At some point this program needs to beat WVU, and I think tonight might finally be the night.
Prediction: Pitt 72-67
Matt Steinbrink (6-2): It is never easy at West Virginia and the Mountaineers have dominated the series recently. Overall, it is 73-46 to their advantage. Pitt is coming off of two losses that were opportunities to make a statement. Previously, I had stated that Pitt had to win the Missouri game. They did not do that, so now I am saying that the Panthers REALLY need to win this one. There is a lot of work to do now for Coach Capel and his staff, and it all starts tonight. Pitt cannot afford to drop this one as well. Not with West Virginia in its current state. They typically play everyone tough at home, but this Mountaineer perimeter this season has been mostly brutal. The front court of Slazinski and Edwards is legit and will likely cause Pitt problems, but the back court and depth need to offset any of those issues. I think Pitt is frustrated but not too down as a team. Also think they recovered to find themselves a bit against an undefeated ACC foe. Think Pitt rebounds and wins a tough game that needs to be grinded out for 40 minutes.
Prediction: Pitt 74-68
Houston Wilson (6-2): Pitt is in need of a win tonight against West Virginia as they are in a bit of a skid losing two straight to Missouri and Clemson. This game comes at a good time as Pitt is talented and deeper than this depleted West Virginia team. One thing that has hurt Pitt has been Bub Carrington slowing down a bit. Pitt will be their best when Carrington is at his best. The overall guard play will be another important factor for Pitt tonight. West Virginia is dangerous around the rim because of Syracuse transfer Jesse Edwards and Pitt has been struggling in the post on both ends of the floor. If Pitt's guards can control things and make shots, they should take care of business. It might be a little closer than it should be but I have Pitt winning.
Prediction: Pitt 75-70
Chris Peak (5-3): Well this is no good, but it's happening anyway: we're all picking Pitt. I just can't shake the feeling that the Panthers made some progress against Clemson, even In a loss. They very well could have packed it in and gave up when they were down 15 with 13 minutes to play, but they didn't. They battled back and got the score down to two, and with a little better decision-making, they very well could have won that game. Decision-making might not be any easier in a hostile environment tonight, but I think Blake Hinson will pick up where he left off against Clemson and Bub Carrington will keep doing more of what we've all said he should be doing - driving to the hoop more, either to finish, draw a foul or kick it out. I believe Pitt is better than it has looked in some of Its games against power-conference teams, and I think we'll see that come through tonight.
Prediction: Pitt 73-68