Post by elp525 on Feb 24, 2011 11:14:52 GMT -5
Thursday February 24, 2011
By Justin Jackson
The Dominion Post, Morgantown, W.Va.
Feb. 24--So close has this WVU men's basketball team come to exorcising some road demons in some tough home arenas this season, only to come up on the short end.
The Mountaineers (17-9, 8-6 Big East) face another opportunity today, when they travel to 4th-ranked Pitt (24-3, 12-2) to play in the Petersen Events Center, a building WVU is 1-6 since it opened, in 2001.
"It goes back to finishing games and we haven't done that," WVU point guard Joe Mazzulla said.
WVU has never won in Milwaukee's Bradley Center, yet trailed Marquette, 75-74, with 35 seconds remaining with possession of the ball.
Marquette's Jae Crowder came up with a steal and was intentionally fouled to help seal the deal for the Golden Eagles.
In Big East play, WVU has never beaten Louisville on the road, but held a 37-26 halftime lead in the new KFC Yum! Center this season. The Cardinals came back and won, 55-54, when Peyton Siva hit a driving scoop shot with four seconds left.
The Petersen Events Center may be just as frustrating for the Mountaineers as any road arena in the league.
Last year, WVU saw a ninepoint lead evaporate in regulation and wound up losing, 98-95, in three overtimes.
"We've played pretty well up there up until the last couple of minutes of each game," WVU forward Cam Thoroughman said. "We usually do play well. Hopefully, we can go up there and finish the job."
Finishing the job was something the Mountaineers could not do in the first meeting with the Panthers. WVU held Pitt to 29 percent shooting in the first half, but the Panthers came back and scored a 71-66 win.
"We have to play two halves," Mazzulla said. "We outplayed them the first half and we let them get the best of us in the second half. Great teams will put games together and halves."
The Panthers finished that game with 18 offensive rebounds and scored at least one point on 25 of their 30 second-half possessions.
"If you get 42 points in the paint, it means you have a lot of offensive rebounds," WVU coach Bob Huggins said. "They got 18 offensive rebounds. That's just too many. We're not going to beat anybody giving up 18 offensive rebounds."
Moreso than the rowdy arena itself, the Panthers pose a physical challenge to the Mountaineers, because they simply don't make many mistakes.
"They don't beat themselves," Huggins said. "They're not a great freethrow shooting team, but when they need to make free throws, they make them. They're not a great perimeter shooting team, but when they have to have a perimeter shot, they make them. They've done that for a while."
Beating Pitt requires a near-perfect game of making enough shots on offense and boxing out to keep the Panthers off the boards on defense. That has happened just three times against Pitt this season with losses to Notre Dame, Tennessee and St. John's.
"Notre Dame made shots," Huggins said. "1/8Ben3/8 Hansbrough was terrific. Hansbrough made big shots down the stretch. In the St. John's game, 1/8Dwight3/8 Hardy made big plays down the stretch. You have to make big plays against them.
"1/8Against St. John's3/8 It's a two-point game, and Pitt comes down and hits a 3. Hardy scores at the buzzer. All of their games they've lost, other than the Tennessee game, have been really close. Tennessee just made every shot and you're going to run into that every once in a while."
WVU's one victory at the Peterson Events Center, too, took an amazing night. In February 2005, former WVU standout Kevin Pittsnogle scored 22 points in 23 minutes of action for a 70-66 win.
Note
Pitt senior point guard Ashton Gibbs has returned from a knee injury and is expected to play tonight. Gibbs, who averages 16.7 points per game, missed the first meeting between the two schools. Gibbs played in Saturday's 60-59 loss to St. John's and scored 26 points in 34 minutes of action.
By Justin Jackson
The Dominion Post, Morgantown, W.Va.
Feb. 24--So close has this WVU men's basketball team come to exorcising some road demons in some tough home arenas this season, only to come up on the short end.
The Mountaineers (17-9, 8-6 Big East) face another opportunity today, when they travel to 4th-ranked Pitt (24-3, 12-2) to play in the Petersen Events Center, a building WVU is 1-6 since it opened, in 2001.
"It goes back to finishing games and we haven't done that," WVU point guard Joe Mazzulla said.
WVU has never won in Milwaukee's Bradley Center, yet trailed Marquette, 75-74, with 35 seconds remaining with possession of the ball.
Marquette's Jae Crowder came up with a steal and was intentionally fouled to help seal the deal for the Golden Eagles.
In Big East play, WVU has never beaten Louisville on the road, but held a 37-26 halftime lead in the new KFC Yum! Center this season. The Cardinals came back and won, 55-54, when Peyton Siva hit a driving scoop shot with four seconds left.
The Petersen Events Center may be just as frustrating for the Mountaineers as any road arena in the league.
Last year, WVU saw a ninepoint lead evaporate in regulation and wound up losing, 98-95, in three overtimes.
"We've played pretty well up there up until the last couple of minutes of each game," WVU forward Cam Thoroughman said. "We usually do play well. Hopefully, we can go up there and finish the job."
Finishing the job was something the Mountaineers could not do in the first meeting with the Panthers. WVU held Pitt to 29 percent shooting in the first half, but the Panthers came back and scored a 71-66 win.
"We have to play two halves," Mazzulla said. "We outplayed them the first half and we let them get the best of us in the second half. Great teams will put games together and halves."
The Panthers finished that game with 18 offensive rebounds and scored at least one point on 25 of their 30 second-half possessions.
"If you get 42 points in the paint, it means you have a lot of offensive rebounds," WVU coach Bob Huggins said. "They got 18 offensive rebounds. That's just too many. We're not going to beat anybody giving up 18 offensive rebounds."
Moreso than the rowdy arena itself, the Panthers pose a physical challenge to the Mountaineers, because they simply don't make many mistakes.
"They don't beat themselves," Huggins said. "They're not a great freethrow shooting team, but when they need to make free throws, they make them. They're not a great perimeter shooting team, but when they have to have a perimeter shot, they make them. They've done that for a while."
Beating Pitt requires a near-perfect game of making enough shots on offense and boxing out to keep the Panthers off the boards on defense. That has happened just three times against Pitt this season with losses to Notre Dame, Tennessee and St. John's.
"Notre Dame made shots," Huggins said. "1/8Ben3/8 Hansbrough was terrific. Hansbrough made big shots down the stretch. In the St. John's game, 1/8Dwight3/8 Hardy made big plays down the stretch. You have to make big plays against them.
"1/8Against St. John's3/8 It's a two-point game, and Pitt comes down and hits a 3. Hardy scores at the buzzer. All of their games they've lost, other than the Tennessee game, have been really close. Tennessee just made every shot and you're going to run into that every once in a while."
WVU's one victory at the Peterson Events Center, too, took an amazing night. In February 2005, former WVU standout Kevin Pittsnogle scored 22 points in 23 minutes of action for a 70-66 win.
Note
Pitt senior point guard Ashton Gibbs has returned from a knee injury and is expected to play tonight. Gibbs, who averages 16.7 points per game, missed the first meeting between the two schools. Gibbs played in Saturday's 60-59 loss to St. John's and scored 26 points in 34 minutes of action.
