Rapid Reactions to West Virginia's Ugly Loss to Pitt in the Backyard Brawl

A few takeaways from West Virginia's loss to Pitt in the Backyard Brawl.

Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images

The 191st edition of the Backyard Brawl couldn't have been uglier for West Virginia than what transpired in Pittsburgh Friday night. From missing three after three to a few bad calls going against them early to Pitt draining everything to Toby Okani air balling consecutive free throws, it was just one of those nights.

Let's go ahead and get into some of my takeaways from tonight's game.

Disjointed defense

This was not an area that I was concerned with coming into the season or after the first two games. Sure, the more you play together, the more successful you'll be defensively, but playing good defense with a whole new roster isn't as challenging as running an efficient offense early. For West Virginia to win games in the first month of the season, they're going to have to be locked in on that end of the floor.

Tonight, they were the furthest thing from locked in. Whenever West Virginia would send a double team, the back side of the defense failed to rotate, constantly leaving shooters open from the perimeter. This Pitt team is too talented to give them easy looks, and they made them pay for it.

Lack of aggression/confidence driving the ball

In the first half, the points in the paint were even at 16 apiece, partially because the Panthers were able to knock down six shots from outside. With WVU's struggles from outside, they need to get more paint touches even if they didn't take the shot. The ball lived on the perimeter, leading to a stagnant offense.

Can't be just DeVries

Tucker DeVries had a tough time getting open looks tonight, and when he did throw up shots, he didn't see many of them go through. There will be nights throughout the season when he's going to be shut out, and when that happens, the Mountaineers need someone else to step up. Tonight, that didn't happen.

Don't count this team out just yet

Whether WVU fans want to hear it or not, Pitt is a good basketball team and one that will probably make the NCAA Tournament. This was a really tough challenge for a third game of the year for a team that is still learning from one another.

As I mentioned in my score prediction article, this game was not going to be a true indicator of how the rest of the season would go. It was more of an early-season measuring stick. Now, we know this team has a lot of things to improve on before they can be taken seriously in the Big 12. And that's okay, it's year one.

This team is going to get back on track and enter league play with a respectable record.

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