West Virginia at Pittsburgh: 2019-20 storylines for Backyard Brawl battle
By Connor Gluck
Inconsistent to start the season, which Pitt team shows up for the game?
Only three games in, Pitt has already had a very up and down season. They started the year off with a strong, if slightly sloppy, 63-61 victory over Florida St. That same FSU team would go on to beat 6 ranked Florida 63-51 on the road. It’s a little early in the season to be playing the “who-beat-who” game, but it was still a quality win to start the season.
Following that though, Pitt suffered a rough 75-70 loss at home to Nicholls State in which they turned the ball over 21 times and trailed the majority of the game. Nicholls State, by the way, was picked to finish 11th in the Southland Conference this year. They then trailed Robert Morris by double digits before tying the game at the half and storming ahead to win by 14. One major factor between games was transfer guard Ryan Murphy starting against Robert Morris after putting up 28 points on 58% shooting against Nicholls State.
Within the Panther’s two-faced nature to start there have been some trends. In their victories, Pitt shot a combined 14/38 (36.8%) from three. While not a great line, it is significantly better than the 4/16 (25%) they shot in the loss to Nicholls State. Also, Pitt combined for 23 turnovers in the victories compared to 20 in their loss.
For their part, WVU will try for a quick start by forcing lots of turnovers and not let the Panthers claw their way back. Pitt has trailed early in all of their games, even trailing by 9 with less than 14 minutes left against FSU, but was able to force their way back into each game, winning two of them. If the Mountaineers are able to jump to a quick lead, they will need to keep the pressure on and not let up at all.