#5 Panthers sweep rival Mountaineers

The No. 5 Pittsburgh Panthers finished off their in-conference sweep of the West Virginia Mountaineers on Big Monday 70-59.

Running the show for the Panthers (22-9, 9-2 Big East Conference) was potential All-American and last year’s Big East Most Improved Player of the Year Sam Young who scored 12 of his 20 points in the first half of Monday’s game.

Young shot an efficient 7-12 from the floor and has boosted a 55 percent mark from the field (34-62) in his last six games in the Backyard Brawl.

Point Guard Levance Fields came into Monday’s matchup ranking 2 nd in the nation in assists per game at 7.4 and despite two early first-half fouls, he finished with 13 points and seven assists.

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DeJuan Blair, the nation’s leading offensive rebounder, played just 16 minutes due to foul trouble, but managed to grab a game-high nine rebounds.

The Mountaineers (16-8, 5-6 Big East) have dropped their third of out last four against the Panthers and most recently their fourth out of their last sixth in conference play.

Guard Alex Ruoff scored a team-high 17 points on just 4-9 shooting, with all of his field goal makes coming from 3-point land.

Devin Ebanks scored his team’s first eight points and finished with 16 on 6-9 shooting and also grabbed seven rebounds.

West Virginia fell victim to the 1-and-1 bonus just eight and a half minutes into the game, but went into the half only down five. The Mountaineers also got out-rebounded by a margin of 15.

By Al Buzzelli
BigEast-fans.com Staff Writer

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