--That was just ugly all around. West Virginia fell 86-62 to Pittsburgh and the numbers pretty much tell the story here as the Mountaineers struggled to both hit shots and stop the Panthers from doing the same. The Panthers got the lead early and never really looked back in this one as they basically controlled this game and really didn't leave any doubt either. The most frustrating part about this one was early the offense was getting good looks but they couldn't make them and never even came back to make it interesting at any point. It's the largest win for Pitt in the series since 2003 and just wasn't good. The Mountaineers raced out to a 2-0 start but this is definitely a bucket of cold ice water on that although I do think it's important not to overreact despite how bad this one was.
--West Virginia was 24-62 from the floor and 6-29 from three, yikes. But it got even worse when you consider that Pitt was 28-58 and 10-27 from three. It's hard to win when you can't score and can't consistently get stops.
--Pittsburgh was 20-27 from the foul line. The Mountaineers were 8-15. Speaking of fouls, those refs really had it our for poor Amani Hansberry. I felt like the kept getting tacked with iffy calls and fouled out after just playing 12 minutes.
--West Virginia only had 8 turnovers which is good but Pitt did score 12 points off those mistakes.
--West Virginia was out rebounded by 13 in this game but limited the Panthers to just 8 offensive rebounds.
--Tucker DeVries, like most of the team, simply didn't play well tonight. He was 2-10 from the field with just 6 points and fouled out in 32 minutes with 2 turnovers and 2 assists. He seemed to struggle tonight with the length of the Panthers but had some open looks that just didn't drop. This team is going to struggle if he can't do much.
--Javon Small finished with 12 points on 5-14 shooting and had 3 turnovers with 2 assists. He had some impressive finishes at the rim at times, but overall the Mountaineers are going to need more out of him especially when DeVries is struggling to score the ball.
--Forgettable game for Toby Okani who had just 2 points on 1-4 shooting and air balled consecutive free throws. Not sure I've ever seen that, but it happened and pretty much sums up the night. Sencire Harris also took some early threes and was just 1-8 from the floor although he did have 6 rebounds and 2 blocks.
--West Virginia made 6 three-pointers in the game and true freshman Jonathan Powell had 4 of those. He finished 6-12 from the field and 4-10 from three with 16 points in 28 minutes. He also didn't turn the ball over some one bright spot for a freshman. The Mountaineers didn't even make their first three until almost 16 minutes into the game.
--KJ Tenner had 7 points on 3-5 shooting and had two assists with no turnovers. His floater is very smooth, but he struggled some defensively against the bigger and stronger Pittsburgh guards.
--Eduardo Andre gave West Virginia some solid minutes again with 9 points on 4-4 shooting, 3 rebounds, 2 assists and a block.
--The Mountaineers were 13-23 on layups and dunks in this one and at .873 points per possession. Shew.
--West Virginia never led in this game and really wasn't competitive after the first few minutes. You're going to have games like this sometimes, but this one just wasn't pretty at all. Still, a lot of season left and you have to hope this team can grow from this because a few years ago the Mountaineers embarrassed Pitt on their home floor and they turned around and made the tournament. Not saying that's the likely outcome right now, but there's a lot of season remaining.
--West Virginia was 24-62 from the floor and 6-29 from three, yikes. But it got even worse when you consider that Pitt was 28-58 and 10-27 from three. It's hard to win when you can't score and can't consistently get stops.
--Pittsburgh was 20-27 from the foul line. The Mountaineers were 8-15. Speaking of fouls, those refs really had it our for poor Amani Hansberry. I felt like the kept getting tacked with iffy calls and fouled out after just playing 12 minutes.
--West Virginia only had 8 turnovers which is good but Pitt did score 12 points off those mistakes.
--West Virginia was out rebounded by 13 in this game but limited the Panthers to just 8 offensive rebounds.
--Tucker DeVries, like most of the team, simply didn't play well tonight. He was 2-10 from the field with just 6 points and fouled out in 32 minutes with 2 turnovers and 2 assists. He seemed to struggle tonight with the length of the Panthers but had some open looks that just didn't drop. This team is going to struggle if he can't do much.
--Javon Small finished with 12 points on 5-14 shooting and had 3 turnovers with 2 assists. He had some impressive finishes at the rim at times, but overall the Mountaineers are going to need more out of him especially when DeVries is struggling to score the ball.
--Forgettable game for Toby Okani who had just 2 points on 1-4 shooting and air balled consecutive free throws. Not sure I've ever seen that, but it happened and pretty much sums up the night. Sencire Harris also took some early threes and was just 1-8 from the floor although he did have 6 rebounds and 2 blocks.
--West Virginia made 6 three-pointers in the game and true freshman Jonathan Powell had 4 of those. He finished 6-12 from the field and 4-10 from three with 16 points in 28 minutes. He also didn't turn the ball over some one bright spot for a freshman. The Mountaineers didn't even make their first three until almost 16 minutes into the game.
--KJ Tenner had 7 points on 3-5 shooting and had two assists with no turnovers. His floater is very smooth, but he struggled some defensively against the bigger and stronger Pittsburgh guards.
--Eduardo Andre gave West Virginia some solid minutes again with 9 points on 4-4 shooting, 3 rebounds, 2 assists and a block.
--The Mountaineers were 13-23 on layups and dunks in this one and at .873 points per possession. Shew.
--West Virginia never led in this game and really wasn't competitive after the first few minutes. You're going to have games like this sometimes, but this one just wasn't pretty at all. Still, a lot of season left and you have to hope this team can grow from this because a few years ago the Mountaineers embarrassed Pitt on their home floor and they turned around and made the tournament. Not saying that's the likely outcome right now, but there's a lot of season remaining.
