By Ray Porter Jr. for Urban Media Today
PITTSBURGH, Pa—Just like in football, the Backyard Brawl matchup between the Pitt Panthers and the West Virginia Mountaineers is truly legendary. Beginning in 1905, both teams played yearly from 1918 until 2012, when the Original Big East Conference ended and Pitt ended up in the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC), and West Virginia in the Big 12 Conference. The series renewed in non-conference play in 2021.
In this year’s basketball version, it was anything but a Brawl as the Panthers dominated the Mountaineers 86-62 in front of a sold-out crowd (with a student section of 3,200) at the Petersen Events Center.
“First and foremost, really, really proud of our performance, especially on the defensive end. I thought our guys were incredibly locked in right from the beginning,” said Pitt head coach Jeff Capel. “I thought our coaching staff, our assistants, did a great job with the scout, these guys did an unbelievable job of following it.”
Graduate-Transfer Damian Dunn led the way with 23 points and was 4-7 from the three-point line. 3 other Panthers—Ishmael Leggett-14, Cam Cohen-14, Guillermo Diaz Graham-10–also scored in double-figures and Diaz-Graham led with 10 rebounds, posting a Double-Double.
“We had an awareness for [Tucker] Devries and [Damian Dunn], [Ishmael Leggett], those are the two primary guys on them, and they really did an unbelievable job containing a really, really good scorer. And then whichever one wasn’t guarding Devries, the other one had [Javon] Small,” said Capel.
The Panthers never trailed from the opening tip and led by as much as 21 points several times in the game, with the Mountaineers never getting as close as 15.
“We made a quick adjustment to get off the ball early, knowing they were in gaps pretty heavy, and forcing us to kind of spray and shoot threes, which I feel like that’s something that we’re very well capable of doing,” Dunn commented. “Stepping up, taking your time, and being confident with trusting your guys as well.”
After averaging 20 points in Pitt’s first 2 wins, Jaland Lowe finished with 8 points, but he contributed with 9 rebounds and 5 assists and continued to be the floor general as their point guard.
“I think it was really just maturity, honestly, just taking a leap forward, just being mature and showing up,” Dunn said about Lowe. “He can be effective on many phases of the game board, and playing defense, getting guys open, shots, open looks, guarding, anything. It’s just his versatility overall.”
With the win, the Panthers (4-0) will play one more home game vs. VMI before traveling to White Sulpher Spring, W.V. to play the final two games of the event at the Greenbrier Resort. The Panthers hope to continue their winning ways as they face LSU on November 22 (2:30 pm – CBS Sports Network).
I thought our performance defensively really helped our offense. So just really, really pleased with performance,” said Capel.
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