The West Virginia men’s basketball team will take on Pitt in this year’s edition of the Backyard Brawl rivalry on Wednesday.
The Mountaineers are coming into this game with a 3-4 record following a loss to St. Johns in the Big East-Big 12 Battle. Pitt is coming into the game with a 5-3 record following a loss to Clemson.
Since the rivalry was renewed in 2017, West Virginia has won every meeting including the final meeting between the two as members of the Big East back in 2012.
Although West Virginia has multiple players on the roster who are in their first season playing for the Mountaineers, interim head coach Josh Eilert says the players have been educated.
“When you put Pitt up on the board, you can kind of see everyone sit up in their chair,” said Eilert. “I made sure every one of those guys went to the Pitt football game in the fall and I referenced that, and they knew, even the new guys, they were well aware of the difference that game was compared to every other game that they attended. They could feel the energy, they could feel the passion from our fanbase, so yes they’ve been educated.”
Pitt is coming into the game led by Blake Hinson who is averaging 20.5 points per game. To coach Eilert, Hinson is a matchup problem for anyone he goes against, including West Virginia.
“The biggest carryover from last year is Hinson, he’s a matchup problem for almost any team that he’s going to go against. His size and strength and ability to shoot the ball as well as he can and how easily he can get it off regardless of who it is in front of him. He’s a big matchup problem for anybody, including us.”
West Virginia will be coming into the game led by Quinn Slazinski and Jesse Edwards who are averaging 16.7 points and 15.7 points respectively.
The Backyard Brawl is scheduled for Wednesday with tip-off set for 9:00 p.m. The game can be seen on ESPN2.
