Preview: Backyard Brawl Another Opportunity for Pitt

The Pitt Panthers will battle rival West Virginia Mountaineers.

Mar 2, 2024; Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts, USA; Pittsburgh Panthers guard Ishmael Leggett (5) shoots a lay up against the Boston College Eagles during the first half at Conte Forum. Mandatory Credit: Eric Canha-Imagn Images / Eric Canha-Imagn Images

PITTSBURGH -- The Pitt Panthers face their most emotional matchup of the year, as they host rival West Virginia in the Backyard Brawl on Nov. 15 with an 8 p.m. tip-off at the Petersen Event Center

Backyard Brawl History

This marks the 191st matchup between the two rivals, who started playing back in 1906. The Mountaineeers hold an 101-89 lead over the Panthers and winners of six of the past seven meetings.

The Backyard Brawl took place every season from 1918-2012, which featured 27 seasons from 1995-2012 that they played in the Big East.

WVU left for the Big 12 after 2012 and Pitt for the ACC in 2013, keeping the rivalry dormant for five seasons from 2012-17 before the teams restarted the rivalry in the 2017-18 season.

Pitt got its first win in the rivalry last season, in an 80-63 victory at WVU Coliseum on Dec. 6, 2023. Blake Hinson starred for Pitt, dropping 29 points, including a program record nine 3-pointers as well.

The Backyard Brawl will take place through the 2027-28 season, with the last renewal occuring in January, which kept the rivalry going after their meeting last season.

West Virginia Mountaineers Outlook

Last season, the Mountaineers finished 9-23 -- their worst record since 2001, but they are entering a whole new era under first-year head coach Darian DeVries, who only returns a single player from last season's roster.

He spent the previous six seasons at Drake, 2018-24, won the Missouri Valley Conference Coach of the Year award twice in 2019 and 2021 and the confernce tournament the past two seasons. He also spent 17 seasons as an assistant at Creighton before hand from 2001-18.

Darian DeVries looked to the transfer portal to have similar first-year success at West Virginia and he brought in the sixth-best transfer class in the country, according to 247Sports. He brought his son, senior guard/forward Tucker DeVries, a two-time MVC Player of the Year, from Drake to highlight the new-look offense.

West Virginia opened their season with another Pittsburgh area team coming to town in Robert Morris, whom they trounced 87-59. Tucker DeVries scored the opening eight points for West Virginia, who never trailed the rest of the game. Nine players recorded double-digit minutes for West Virginia in the win and five scored 10-plus points.

The Mountaineer backcourt starts two high-quality 3-point shooters in Tucker DeVries and senior guard Javon Small.

Tucker DeVries is shooting 50% from deep on seven attempts per game, while Small also excels from deep, shooting 37.5% on 5.26 attempts from beyond the arc last season at Oklahoma State and 44.4% on 4.5 attempts this season.

Darian Devries recruited Small for his playmaking ability as well. The South Bend, Ind. native averages 4.5 assists for his career and has maintained that average through his first two games as a Mountaineer.

While Tucker DeVries is a tall guard standing at 6-foot-7, sophomore forward Amani Hansberry has his hands full with rebounding responsibility.

Hansberry had a much smaller role last season at Illinois, as he only averaged 7.5 minutes in his 19 games played. He is averaging 26.5 minutes, per game this season and grabbed 12 rebounds and scored nine points in the win vs. RMU.

Senior forward Haris Elezovic, the only other forward on the Mountaineers roster who has played this season, has averaged just three minutes per game so far this season.

WVU does have senior center Eduardo Andre, who just played in his 101st collegiate game and stands at 6-foot-11, but he only averages five rebounds and 16 minutes a game for his career.

West Virginia's second win came vs. Massachusetts, where they would hold on for the 75-69 victory.

They didn't trail for the final 35 minutes of the match, but a poor shooting night let UMass hang around. UMass also employed a zone, which led to WVU struggling throughout the second half, shooting 25% from the field and 27.2% from 3-point range.

The Mountaineers cut their rotation down slightly as only eight players recorded over 10 minutes. Tucker DeVries led West Virginia with 17 points and eight rebounds and Small recorded four steals. Hansberry got to the foul line six times and finished with a career high 16 points.

West Virginia is almost an entirely new product, with a first-year head coach and only a single returning player, who has yet to enter a game this season. This means the Panthers are facing a group of players who are likely still meshing, something they should take advantage of.

WVU doesn't have great depth at forward but does have tall guards that can grab some rebounds. Pitt has a big height advantage, with five forwards taller than Elezovic, WVU's tallest forward at 6-foot-8.

Even with poor forward depth on the other side, the Panthers' front-court situation has been puzzling for fans to digest. Starting forawrds in juniors Cameron Corhen and Guillermo Diaz Graham have been in foul trouble for much of Pitt's first three games.

While those fouls have allowed redshirt senior forward Zach Austin to shine in his new role, Pitt fans should hope that the opposing forwards earn some early fouls before Pitt's forwards do.

If Pitt defeats its biggest rival, it will match its season-opening win streak from last season at 4-0. The Panthers survived a rough shooting night against Gardner-Webb but still scored 83 points. If the Panthers can make their open three-point shots, they should take down the Mountaineers in front of a raucous home crowd.

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