The #6 Mountaineers took on Pitt in Morgantown Wednesday night. The Mountaineers never trailed and came out the 19 point victor of yet another hard fought rivalry game. Top WVU performers were: DaSean Butler (18 Pts, 5 Reb), Kevin Jones (16 Pts, 6 Reb), and Devin Ebanks (7 Pts, 16 Reb). The Mountaineers also saw the debut of Freshman center Deniz Kilicli, a stand-out prospect who sat out the preceding 20 games of the season due to NCAA regulations for playing on a team that included a professional player. He contributed 9 points to the West Virginia victory and seemed to be an instant fan favorite.

WVU started off strong taking several double digit leads, but went into halftime up by only 6. This Panthers comeback was mostly due to their ever-changing defense. After starting unsuccessfully with man-to-man defense, Pitt decided to change into a 2-3 zone, and kept the Mountaineers quiet for the last few minutes of the first half. This defense appeared to have thrown the Mountaineers off for a few minutes, but, as usual, they adjusted very well during halftime and came out firing in the second half. Though Pittsburgh had a few runs of their own in the second half, they were unable to stay in the game with an impressive looking West Virginia. West Virginia’s ability to score in the paint as well as around the perimeter left Pitt without an answer. The Mountaineers rarely ended an offensive possession without points as they had a second or third chance opportunity after every missed shot.

The great win was slightly over-shadowed by the ridiculous behavior of a few fans. Fans began throwing things on the court at two different occassions during the game, and one of Pitt’s assistant coaches was eventually struck in the face by a coin. After the first occurrence of these actions, Bob Huggins took charge of the P.A. microphone and rebuked fans for their behavior. This obviously did not effect a few fans who decided to throw things a second time. A technical foul was eventually called on the crowd and Pitt shot two free foul shots on the behalf of the crowd. This behavior is indeed untolerable, but the entire student section and Mountaineer fan base is not at fault for the bad decisions of a few individuals as many make it seem. An even larger problem has become the constant use of profane chants. These actions have sparked Coach Huggins to tell refs to begin giving more technical fouls to the crowd when they do something inappropriate and the university to threaten ejections if this behavior continues.

Regardless, it was a good win for the Mountaineers as they won their 5th straight game and improved to 18-3 overall and 17-2 in the conference. This win put them at third in the conference with 9 regular season conference games left. Upcoming games include: 2/6-@ St. Johns, 2/8-Villanova, and 2/12 @ Pittsburgh.