Up 39-37 at the half, No.4 Pittsburgh relied on star forward Sam Young to open the game up against Big East rival West Virginia. Young Pitt’s leading scorer (18.6ppg), scored 16 of his 22 points in the second half to lead No. 4 Pittsburgh to a 79-67 win over the West Virginia Mountaineers on Sunday. Sunday’s matchup was between two of the Big East’s top defenses but the Mountaineers could not contain Pitt’s front court threat of Sam Young (22 points) and DeJuan Blair (16 points). Blair also added 11 rebounds to record his 13th double-double of the season.
Da’Sean Butler led West Virginia with 21 points who are now 14-5 on the season. West Virginia is a dangerous team in the Big East but they lack the inside presence to matchup against a physical team like Pitt who can dominate the opposition in the low post. If Joe Alexander would have returned for his senior season, the Mountaineers would have been a final four contender.
Pittsburgh 18-1, hosts No. 21 Villanova on Wednesday
