West Virginia faces Pitt in the Backyard Brawl as both teams look to get off to a 2-0 start early on in the 2022-2023 season.
WVU Starting Five:
G- Kedrian Johnson
G- Kobe Johnson
G- Erik Stevenson
F- Emmitt Matthews Jr.
F- Jimmy Bell Jr.
Pitt Starting Five:
G- Nelly Cummings
G- Greg Elliot
G- Jamarius Burton
F- Blake Hinson
C- Federiko Federiko
First Half
12:00, WVU 22, Pitt 19
Mountaineers and Panthers started at a hectic pace and Pitt took an early lead. West Virginia has weathered the storm, with Mohamed Wague having five points in the early going. Emmit Matthews was hit with a technical foul following a three-pointer.
9:50, WVU 26, Pitt 22
Stevenson draws a charge and then at the other end James Okonkwo is whistled for an offensive foul at the other end. WVU’s fifth team foul.
7:36, WVU 26, Pitt 26
Mountaineers have cooled off from their hot start shooting. Mountaineers have not scored in the past 3:41, and James Okonkwo along with Erik Stevenson have two personal fouls.
3:45, WVU 35, Pitt 30
Mountaineers have gone with a smaller lineup because of foul trouble, and WVU has still kept up with the Panthers.
HALFTIME: WVU 47, Pitt 36
Kedrian Johnson with a steal and score to end the half for the Mountaineers, highlighted a messy and frantic opening period. Mountaineers shot 65% from the field, while Pitt shot 50%. Joe Toussaint is the leading scorer for WVU, with 10 points. West Virginia made it an emphasis to try and get the ball inside, and their three bigs have two fouls at the half. West Virginia went with a small lineup for the final 5:10 and it worked for the most part.
Second Half
16:45, WVU 52, Pitt 40
Pitt will have one timeout for the remaining 16:45 of gamete. The Panthers’ Nelly Cummings has four fouls, while Blake Hinson has three fouls. Jimmy Bell for WVU has three fouls.
13:26, WVU 56, Pitt 41
James Okonkwo, Mohamed Wague, and Jimmy Bell all have three fouls and the Mountaineesr are going back to their smaller lineup with Stevenson, both Johnson’s, Mitchell, and Matthews.
7:39, WVU 61, Pitt 49
Pitt’s Nelly Cummings has fouled out and WVU has weathered the storm of not making shots. West Virginia is 6/18 from the field so far in the second half, and Pitt has hung around.
Final: WVU 81, Pitt 56
