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No. 2 Panthers are upset by Mountaineers in Big East Tourney
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NEW YORK, NY. - They say the third time is a charm and West Virginia sure lived up to the adage. After falling to No. 2 ranked Pitt 79-67 in Morgantown on Jan. 25 and 70-59 at Pitt on Feb. 9., it was assumed the Mountaineers would do the same in Thursday night Big East quarterfinal game.
That's because in the what has become the 'Golden Era' of Panther basketball, Pitt has pretty much dominated Big East action.
Entering the game against WVU, Pitt was 19-6 since 2000 in the Big East Tourney, had played in six of the last seven championship games and had not exited in a quarterfinal game since 2004/05, when Villanova beat them.
Pitt also entered the tournament as one of the hottest teams in the nation after having won 10 of its last 11 games.
Well, you can bet the couches are burning in Morgantown, because someone forgot to tell the Mountaineers that. Not only did WVU beat the No. 2 ranked Panthers, 74-60, they pretty much controlled the game from the get-go.
"We just didn't execute. I think we were -- we weren't coached well, we weren't prepared well again for some things and we just got outplayed in every area," Pitt coach Jamie Dixon said. "So, you know, it's just one of those games. We've got to do a better job and again, this is a very good team. They've only lost to good people. We had beaten them twice this year but both were tough games and they really did outplay us in every aspect today so, you know, we understand that we got what we deserved and the responsibility falls on ourselves."
Pitt's DeJaun Blair said what seemed to haunt the team, especially entering the second half, was the momentum WVU had going for them.
"The dagger was -- that shot they made at the buzzer, I think that was motivation for them," Blair said. " It was also a little dagger in the chest for us, but I think we just let it slip and slip away from us, man. I don't know what was wrong with us."
West Virginia went on a 9-3 run to open up the second half and Pitt could never recover. But it wasn't the buzzer beater that gave Pitt fits, it was WVU's execution.
Coach Bob Huggins switched things up on Pitt, and ran a 1-3-1. That prevented the Panthers from getting the ball inside.
"I thought we really controlled the game with our offense. I mean I thought the 1-3-1, was really, really good," West Virginia coach Bob Huggins said. "We talked about controlling the game with our offense and I thought we did that."
Devin Ebanks scored a career-high 20 points while Alex Ruoff added 18 points and Da'Sean Butler had 16 for the Mountaineers.
Pitt shot 45.1 percent to the Mountaineers 44.2 percent, but a big difference was the fact they were 0-8 from three point range.
The Panthers also committed 13 turnovers and gave up 14 offensive rebounds, which is something that is uncanny for a Jamie Dixon coached squad.
Sam Young led the Panthers, now 27-4, with 15 points. Pitt was almost assured a No. 1 seed in the NCAA tourney as long as they reached the Big East Final, but now must sit and wait for their fate.
If there was any good news, both Kansas and Oklahoma lost in their respective Big 12 tourney.
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