BIG EAST GAME PREVIEW: West Virginia @ Pittsburgh

February 27, 2007



The Backyard Brawl between Pittsburgh and West Virginia meets for Act II on the hardwood tonight when the Mountaineers travel north to take on the Panthers. Pittsburgh won their earlier meeting this season at Morgantown, 60-47, when Sam Young scored a career-high 21 pts off the bench. Tonight, the Pittsburgh fans will converge on the Peterson Events Center one last time to send-off seniors Aaron Gray, Antonio Graves, Levon Kendall and Doyle Hudson. West Virginia will hope to dampen the party by making it rain threes.

Here are the pregame stories and previews found on the internet this morning:

Anatomy of Gray's Climb from Obscurity (Charleston Gazette)
Well-Rested Mountaineers Seek Revenge at Pittsburgh (Register-Herald)
A Tough Task for Pete's Sake (Charleston Gazette)
Pitt Keeping Title Hopes Alive (Tribune-Democrat)
Panthers Learn Lesson (Beaver County Times)
Match-up: West Virginia @ Pitt (Tribune-Review)
Pitt Seniors Bid Farewell to Peterson Events Center (Tribune-Review)
Panthers Try to Solve Shooting, Defensive Problems (Post-Gazette).


Pittsburgh, a 9-pt favorite tonight, saw their chances to share the Big East Regular Season title greatly enhanced on Monday night with Syracuse knocking off Georgetown. However, they need to take care of business against their rivals from West Virginia tonight in what will be an emotionally charged Peterson Events Center. When West Virginia comes to town, the Pittsburgh fans will be ready, and tonight, they will be saying farewell to seniors Aaron Gray, Antonio Graves, Levon Kendall and Doyle Hudson, a senior class with 100 wins in their four years.

West Virginia has seen their hopes for a return to the NCAA Tournament put in limbo with their inability to win away from home and lack of quality wins. They only have one win against a Big East team (DePaul) with a current winning record in the conference. Their lone marquee out of conference win was impressive, beating UCLA at home earlier this month, but the Bruins were without their starting point guard. So, after a week off after a loss to Providence, where the Mountaineers shot 9-41 on three-pointers in a 64-61 loss, the Mountaineers will be a desperate bunch playing for their March lives when they come to Pittsburgh tonight.

The Panthers have shown some vulnerability of late, losing two of their last four, including a home loss to Louisville. The Panthers have also not won by more than six points since their win at West Virginia 20 days ago. Pittsburgh's offense has been inconsistent, at best, of late as their one-time league leading 3-pt shooting percentage in league play has dropped to 38%, which still leads the league, yet is down from the 43% that it was a few weeks ago. The Panthers are also slowed by the severly sprained ankle of their big man, Aaron Gray. The 7-footer gutted through 21 minutes of play in their 61-53 loss at Georgetown on Saturday, scoring 10 pts, but he was obviosuly not close to 100%. It is doubtful that he will be 100% tonight, and is questionable if he will play. Battling the WVU 1-3-1 zone, having that big body to anchor inside is a huge advantage for the Panthers. They have also found good luck with Sam Young on the baseline using his athleticism to score over the 1-3-1 defense.

West Virginia will need to shoot the 3-ball effecively and slow Pitt inside to have a chance to night. Coming off a 9-41 effort beyond the arc at Providence is not encouraging, but the Mountaineers have had a week off to regroup and get their touch back. Darris Nichols will look to run the show and get Frank Young and Alex Ruoff the ball in position to light it up from beyond the arc. Joe Alexander and Da'Sean Butler will try to slash to the basket and keep defenses honest with their ability to hit from beyond the arc, but if they are not hitting a high percentage, Pitt will just grind out the game and pull away late.

Pittsburgh is not playing their best and with Gray definitely limited, if playing, this game might be a tad closer than expected. Pitt should still get the win, but the dangerous shooting of the Mountaineers will likely make it closer at times with a few flurries of 3's, but overall, too much Pitt.

NBE Blogger Preview: Pittsburgh 68 West Virginia 61

Read more!

BIG EAST GAME PREVIEW: West Virginia @ Providence

February 20, 2007



The Providence Friars are 6-6 in the Big East and still hold faint NCAA hopes. With four games left, the toughest two at home (WVU and Syracuse), the Friars must win all four to have a chance at an NCAA bid, so tonight is a must win for PC, who is 5-1 at home in the conference.

West Virginia is 8-5 in the Big East and still has a shot at a 1st round bye in the Big East Tournament. The Mountaineers have set themselves up for a return to the NCAA Tournament in a season that was largely expected as a rebuilding year. Tonight is a tough challenge for WVU, who is just 2-4 on the road in conference play, and could be viewed as a post-season test.

Here are the pregame stories and previews found on the internet this morning:

Friars Home is a Tough Place to Win (Charleston Gazette)
Mountaineer Men Go To Providence for Tough Test (Register-Herald)
Preview: WVU @ PC (Providence Journal)
A Home Away from Home (Providence Journal)


West Virginia travels to Providence tonight for a Big East match-up. The Mountaineers continue to play for a Big East bye, but have a tough road ahead with the match-up against the Friars and then a trip to Pittsburgh before closing out the conference schedule at home against Cincinnati. The Mountaineers have been a great story this year under John Beilein as they were picked near the bottom of the conference after having to replace graduation losses of Kevin Pittsnogle, Mike Gansey, JD Collins, Joe Herber and Patrick Beilein, five of their top seven players from last year. Frank Young was the lone returning player with significant experience and Darris Nichols was in last year's rotation, and both have stepped up their games. Seldom-used bench players Joe Alexander and Alex Ruoff have fit perfectly into the WVU system and Da'sean Butler has proven to be one of the best freshmen in the conference. The Mountaineers still rely heavily on the 3-pt shot and their 1-3-1 zone defense, so they are always in the game, because they can score quickly from behind the arc.

Providence is a very dangerous team. Their point guard, Sharaud Curry, can score in bunches from deep or off the bounce. Their athletic big man, Herbert Hill, has blossomed as a senior as one of the best scoring big men in the nation. Hill should find plenty of room along the baseline and look for Geoff McDermott and Curry to make sure they find their big man in a position to score. McDermott should have a big night rebounding against WVU as rebounding is still an after-thought to the Mountaineers. When the ball is not in Curry's hands, turnovers could be a probelm for PC. Dwain Williams (missed last game) and Brian McKenzie need to be sure with the ball and knock down open shots that become available against the zone.

Providence is favored by 3.5 points and should get the job done at home. They will hit the boards very hard with McDermott, Hill and Jonathan Kale and are able to go smaller and more athletic if need be to counter WVU line-up and not lose much in what they want do as a team. The Mountaineers are certainly capable of bombing away and that gives them a shot in every game they play, but relying on that trait on the road is risky.

NBE Blogger Prediction: Providence 75 West Virginia 70

Read more!

BIG EAST GAME PREVIEW: Seton Hall @ West Virginia

February 17, 2007


John Beilein will look take West Virginia to a 20-win season for the third year in a row as the Mountaineers look to earn a season sweep over the Seton Hall Pirates. The Pirates desperately look to break their six-game conference losing streak and their winless record on the road in Big East competition.

West Virginia still has plenty to play for as they are still very much in the hint for a 1st round bye in the Big East Tournament. The competition is crowdes for the bye as they currently trail Marquette and Louisville by a game and are tied with Syracuse and Notre Dame at 7-5. Their NCAA Tournament hopes also would get quite a significant set-back if they were to lose at home to the Pirates.

They played 14 days ago in New Jersey and the Mountaineers came away with an 81-70 victory as New Jersey native Da'Sean Butler scored 21 points in the WVU win. The Mountaineers will look to use their 1-3-1 zone defense and trap to confuse the young Pirates, in the first contest, it led to 18 turnovers by SHU. West Virginia does not match-up with too many teams size-wise, but SHU is one team where WVU actually might have a size advantage.

Seton Hall will look to push tempo and pressure the WVU ballhandlers. If they are unable to force turnovers, they will probably be made to pay by the WVU offense as they look to hit open three's and run backdoor cuts for easy baskets.

The Mountaineers have not been shooting the ball well of late. I have a feeling that streak ends on Saturday.

NBE Blogger Prediction: West Virginia 79 Seton Hall 65

Read more!

BIG EAST GAME PREVIEW: West Virginia @ Georgetown

February 12, 2007



Georgetown and West Virginia both scored big wins on Saturday, now they must put those games behind them in a hury and concentrate on the task at hand, beating the other at their own game!

On Saturday, Georgetown took sole possession of 2nd place and remained right on the heels of the Pittsburgh Panthers with a 76-58 win at home against Marquette. On the afternoon that Georgetown celebrated 100 years of intercollegient college basketball, Roy Hibbert and Jeff Green made their cases to be included in their next celebration by combining for 47 points to outshine the Golden Eagles backcourt.

West Virginia earned a huge out of conference victory as they upset 2nd-ranked UCLA in Morgantown. The Mountaineers are locked in a tight battle for the 4th and final Big East Tournament bye with Louisville and others, so getting their attention back to their conference situation is imperative quickly.

Here are the pregame stories and previews found on the internet this morning:

Mountaineers Visit Red-Hot Hoyas Tonight (Charleston Gazette)
Hibbert, Green Key to Hoyas Revival (Washington Times)
Hoyas Combination is Finally Revealed (Washington Post)
Celbration Time is Over for Mountaineer Men (Register-Herald)


To read our brief preview of the game and to see the NBE Blogger's prediction on the outcome, click 'Read More' below.

Also, we'd love to see the reader's thoughts and predictions on the game in the comments, so feel free to add your toughts!




Preparing for Georgetown and West Virginia usually takes several days, however, both Georgetown and West Virginia will have slightly more than a day to prepare for each other as they both need to put the good feelings of Saturday behind them and get back to the task at hand.

West Virginia is well known for their 1-3-1 trapping zone defense. They also spread the floor on offense and work for the open 3-pter or backdoor cut. They just about ignore any type of post offense or attempt to rebound and concentrates on creating turnovers and scoring from beyond the arc.

Georgetown uses a Princeton-style offense that shortens the game, usually limiting each contest to 55 possessions, or in the neighborhood thereof. With Roy Hibbert and Jeff Green towering over the West Virginia frontline, how the backcourt duo of Jesse Sapp and Jonathan Wallace nadle the 1-3-1 traps will determine how effecient the Hoya offensive attack is. If they can get the ball to Hibbert or Green inside, it will likely result in a basket nearly everytime. Even if they are forced to settle for the perimeter shot, the Hoyas have a major advantage on the glass to clean up the miss and score on the putbacks.

West Virginia's reliance on the 3-pt shot makes this game very interesting. With Georgetown looking to shorten the game, just a few 3's here and there can turn this game quickly. At times, WVU will have all five players on the floor behind the 3-pt arc and all very capable of making the shot. Frank Young and Alex Ruoff are the most dangerous shooters, but Darris Nichols, Dasean Butler and Jamie Smalligan are also dangerous shooters. With the threats on the perimeter, they can pull the Georgetown defense away from the basket and try to run Butler and others of screens for backdoor baskets. If Georgetown goes to zone, it could help the WVU shooters get more comfortable on the perimeter. The 3-pt shot is the great equalizer in college basketball and WVU uses it fully to their advantage.

Georgetown is a 9.5-pt favorite at home and they have the size and the experience to get this win. West Virginia will likely bang home some 3's and keep this game interesting with some well-timed long range shots, but Georgetown has Hibbert and Green to turn to when they need a basket, and when they turn to them, it should be nearly automatic against the WVU zone.

NBE Blogger Prediction: Georgetown 73 West Virginia 64

Read more!

BIG EAST GAME PREVIEW: Pittsburgh @ West Virginia

February 7, 2007


One of the Big East's most intense rivalries in all aspects is highlighted tonight as the Backyard Brawl on the hardwood comes to Morgantown for the match-up of Pittsburgh and West Virginia. The Panthers look to solidify their hold of the conference's top spot while the Mountaineers look to state their case for a 1st round bye in the conference tournament and a spot in the national top 25 with a win over their rival.

Here are the pregame stories and previews found on the internet this morning:

Toughest Test for WVU (Charleston Gazette)
WVU Skips Rebuilding (Pittsburgh Tribune-Review)
Pitt Seniors: You Have to Be There to Believe It (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette)
Pitt vs WVU: The Match-up (Tribune-Review)
Pitt Will Carry Big East Lead to West Virginia (Tribune-Democrat)
Pitt Goes to WVU Zone (Beaver County Times)
Old Rivals Meet Once Again (Register-Herald)





Click below for our brief preview and prediction on this game and don't forget to leave your prediction in the comments section.


READ OUR PREVIEW AND SEE OUR PREDICTION...CLICK "Read More" BELOW


Pittsburgh travels down I-79 south as 3-pt favorite and with the Big East conference lead to meet West Virginia. The Mountaineers with attempt to turn the Big East conference race into a mad spring to the finish by knocking off their rivals in the Backyard Brawl.

West Virginia will look to attack Pittsburgh with their 3-pt shooting and 1-3-1 zone defense and with a charged crowd that loves nothing more than to beat Pittsburgh. West Virginia has won the last two meetings at the Coliseum by making 25 3-pt shots and turning it over just 10 times in the two games. Pittsburgh meanwhile turned it over 29 times in the two games and made only 12 3-pt shots inthe two contests. West Virginia will hope to outscore the Panthers from the arc and take care of the basketball once again, if they do, this game will be hotly contested from beginning to end.

Pittsburgh has not played since beating Villanova at the Wachovia Center on January 29th. The 9-day break should definitely be concerning to Jamie Dixon as Pitt has a habit of starting games a little flat, at least comapred to the opposition. If that happens tonight and a few 3's come raining down, the roof might seem like it will come off the Coliseum and the atmoshere will get downright crazy.

If Pittsburgh can weather the early storm, look for them to attack the 1-3-1 zone like the veteran team they are. Levance Fields and Antonio Graves will look to penetrate the gaps of the defense and dish inside to Aaron Gray or kickit out to a variety of shooters, led by Graves and Ronald Ramon, that lead the Big East is 3-pt shooting percentage. That is the major difference with this Pitt team over the previous couple versions, they pass the ball really well and shoot it even better. They might not be as good of a rebounding team as in the past, but their offense is highly effecient and their 3-pt weapons add a new dimension. They also have the luxury of brining Ramon and Sam Young off the bench, Young was very important last season finding room on the baseline against the 1-3-1 zone to use his athletic ability to finish, if Pitt gets a good night from him offensively, WVU could be in trouble.

This year's West Virginia team seems to have more shooters than in the past. They still do not rebound much and might be turning it over a little more, but they are more athletic and a bit longer in thier 1-3-1 zone defense than in the past. Tonight they will have to take care of the basketball, which was the difference in their two tight wins over Pitt (83-78 in OT and 67-62) the last two years. You know they will launch a lot of 3's and chase down some loose balls and hit you with a backdoor cut, but they can not afford to turn the ball over and allow Pitt to have extra possessions, because this Pitt team seems to be better at making the opponent pay for their mistakes.

The starting line-up for WVU is likely Darris Nichols, Alex Ruoff, Frank Young, Joe Alexander and Rob Summers with Desean Butler and Jamie Smalligan seeing most of the time off the bench. Pittsburgh will go with Levance Fields, Antonio Graves, Mike Cook, Levon Kendall and Aaron Gray with Ronald Ramon, Keith Benjamin and Sam Young seeing most of the action off the bench. Pitt can go smaller this year, adding a 3rd guard to the mix and Sam Young at the '4' and still match-up well with WVU's attack, but who they use to defend Alexander and Young will be interesting.

This is a game I keep going back and forth on. Pitt's effeciency numbers look so strong in Big East play (and, as we will look at later, they are even stronger when compared to the averages of who they play) and their added 3-pt talents this season with the extra pass makes them very dangerous against any zone. I worry about their 9-day layoff, especially at the beginning of the game, which could be a rallying point for West Virginia.

Still, I like Pitt's experience in this one and as the game goes on, they will have too many answers, but...in a rivalry game, anything can happen...and, this one will likely come down to the end.

NBE Blogger Prediction: Pittsburgh 73 West Virginia 69

Read more!

BIG EAST GAME PREVIEW: West Virginia @ Seton Hall

February 3, 2007


This is an interesting game. On the surface it looks like West Virginia all the way, but the Mountaineers need to guard against relaxing after getting the monkey off their back with their road win over Rutgers on Wednesday and keep from looking ahead to next week, where they return home to face Pittsburgh and UCLA. I am sure West Virginia is anxious to make a national statement, and having Pitt and UCLA at home gives them that chance, but they can't overlook Seton Hall in the meantime.

For the Pirates, they had an opportunity to take out some frustrations against Princeton on Monday night after Rutgers ran their Big East losing streak to three games last weekend. The Pirates are a small, perimeter orientated team that could match-up well with the Mountaineers. Seton Hall has the luxury of going small and not being at a huge mis-match, but how their young line-up deals with the intricate 1-3-1 zone defense of West Virginia will be very interesting.

For some reason the Meadowlands has been a difficult place for teams to find a comfort with their perimeter shot. Maybe it is the atmosphere of playing in front of less than 6,000 fans in an 18,000 seat Hockey stadium, but teams can certainly come out cold in Continental Airlines Arena. West Virginia relies on the match of the 3-pter more than any team in the conference. If they are going to launch 40 3-pters, chances are they will made 15 of them, forcing the opponent to shoot over 57% from 2-pt range to keep up. West Virginia rarely turns the ball over and looks to force turnovers with their trapping 1-3-1 zone, putting more pressure on the opposing offense to be as effecient as possible.

On paper, a match-up of Eugene Harvey, Jamar Nutter, Larry Davis, Brian Laing and Stan Gaines against Darris Nichols, Alex Ruoff, Frank Young, Joe Alexander and Rob Summers is not very one-sided for either side. Seton Hall will bring Paul Gause and John Garcia off the bench while WVU has Da'Sean Butler and Jamie Smalligan as their primary bench player...an edge to West Virginia.

I really think Seton Hall is going to go all out for this game and might catch West Virginia off guard early on. West Virginia will likely adjust and get back into the game, and, in the end, I think they have just a little more down the stretch to get a second road win in a row.

NBE Blogger Prediction: West Virginia 77 Seton Hall 75

Read more!