Big East Friday Night Match-Up: W. Virginia v. Pittsburgh

Friday offers a rare Big East game. This one happens to be between 2 of the top teams in the conference. Five of the top 25 teams in the country reside in the Big East. The West Virginia Mountaineers are currently ranked 4th in the country while the Pittsburgh Panthers has slid down to the #23 slot due to a resent losing streak. The Mountaineers got the best of the Panthers in their first match-up back on February 2nd with a 70-51 beat-down that wasn’t even as close as the final score indicated. Pittsburgh is looking for redemption as well as a good seed in the NCAA tournament.

After a tremendous 15-2 start to the season that included wins against a previously unbeaten Syracuse, Cincinnati, Connecticut and Louisville, Pittsburgh has fallen back to Earth in losing 4 of their next 5 games. With just 7 conference games left on the schedule, and a 3.5 game deficit in league play, the Panthers will have to run the table to have any chance of getting the Big East title. While that may seem far fetched, their bigger goal is to obtain a solid seed in the NCAA tourney that may allow them to make a deep run.

To do so they will need an all out effort from their top scorers Friday night. Ashton Gibbs is leading the team in scoring with a 16.5 point per game average. Brad Wanamaker, Gilbert Brown and Jermaine Dixon will need to do more than usual to stay ahead of the Mountaineer offensive attack.

HC Bob Huggins finally has his players in place after several years of recruiting. His top notch recruiting ways are showing through as this team is off to a 19-4 start, and are ranked in the top 5 for the first time in years. Da’Sean Butler and Kevin Jones are WVU’s top scoring threats. Combined they average 31 points per game, but it’s their rebounding that makes this team one of the best in the nation. Along with Devin Ebanks, this trio grabs an average of 22 rebounds per game. The rebounding disparity that W. Virginia has over their opponents is what translates to the 11 point differential in points scores vs. points allowed.

It will take a huge effort from the Panthers Friday night at home, but they are certainly capable of taking down the Mountaineers. Beating Syracuse back in January proves that Pitt has enough horses to take on any team in the country.

Related posts:

1. Big East Clash: W. Virginia Mountaineers/ Pittsburgh Panthers
2. Georgetown Takes on W. Virginia is Big East Showdown
3. Big East Heavyweights Collide: Syracuse vs. Pittsburgh
4. Big East Showdown: W. Virginia & Syracuse
5. Pittsburgh hosts UCONN in Wednesday Big East Battle

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