West Virginia Bests Pitt in 188th Backyard Brawl
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MORGANTOWN -- On Friday night in Morgantown, there was nary an extra ticket to be found at the WVU Coliseum.
A late start time did little to discourage attendees as few -- if any -- of the arena's navy blue seats sat empty. A sea of Mountaineer fans clad in gold overtook the building as, for the first time in 20 months, a near-capacity crowd was on hand to watch the West Virginia men's basketball team.
The Backyard Brawl, which hadn't been played last season due to the COVID-19 pandemic, was on the agenda. It was Pitt's first visit to Morgantown since the 2018-19 season and, luckily for West Virginia, the Panthers will make the return trip north with a sour taste in their mouth.
By taking advantage of 32 forced turnovers, the Mountaineers coasted to a 74-59 win over the Panthers.
From the opening tipoff, energy was high. Fans lived and died with every basket, every takeaway and every whistle, creating an immensely hostile environment for the Panthers to perform in.
"It was just another game, and we knew we had to come out and win the game," point guard Malik Curry said. "The crowd is good -- we love it, I love the crowd -- but at the end of the day, we gotta focus on the game."
Pitt's struggles began early. A swarming defense applied the necessary pressure to force 18 turnovers in the first half alone. The Mountaineers would capitalize on the created opportunities, adding 21 easy points.
"Every practice. Ninety-four feet. Me and Kedrian (Johnson). Every day in practice. Kobe (Johnson) too. It's just like another day in the office," Curry said postgame. "That's what we do, that's what we gotta do, that's our job. At the end of the day, we've got to apply pressure on the defensive end first."
"To sum it up," guard Taz Sherman quickly blurted out, "they some pests. That's about it."
Then, West Virginia took advantage of the void created after Pitt forward John Hugley, who scored a team-high 27 points in the Panthers' season-opener on Tuesday, was banished to the bench after picking up two quick fouls.
The Mountaineers ultimately entered halftime in possession of a double-digit lead. An offensive attack from a handful of sources allowed them to continue their reign.
Usual suspects Sherman and Sean McNeil would end the night with 17 and 11 points, respectively, while forward Jalen Bridges led the team with 18. Curry, who transferred from Old Dominion in the offseason, finished with 10.
The night was especially important to Bridges, a Fairmont native, who, in his prior two seasons at WVU, had never played in the rivalry that he had grown up watching. In addition to his scoring onslaught, he finished with a team-high six rebounds and five blocks in 32 minutes.
"It means the world being able to represent this state at one of the highest levels of college basketball," Bridges said. "Playing against Pitt, that's the Backyard Brawl. It goes back years and years and years. To be able to get that going this year after we missed out on it last year because of COVID, it was a surreal feeling, honestly."
West Virginia will participate in the Shriners Children's Charleston Classic in South Carolina next week, hitting the court next on Thursday against Elon. The 9 p.m. tipoff will be televised on ESPN2.