WVU wins Basket-Brawl
MORGANTOWN — Several objects were thrown onto the court after Pittsburgh had nearly erased a double-digit deficit, prompting West Virginia coach Bob Huggins to grab the courtside microphone and tell the restless sellout crowd, “That’s stupid.”
His players took over from there.
Da’Sean Butler scored 18 points, Kevin Jones added 16 and the pair stepped up their games after Huggins’ speech midway through the second half, carrying No. 6 West Virginia to a 70-51 win over the 22nd-ranked Panthers Wednesday night.
West Virginia (18-3, 7-2 Big East) used a steady diet of 3-pointers and fed off the energy of the third-largest home crowd in school history and the successful debut of suspended freshman Deniz Kilicli to earn its fifth straight win.
It marked the start of a tough four-game stretch in nine days for the Mountaineers that includes contests with St. John’s, No. 2 Villanova and at Pittsburgh on Feb. 12.
But some fans’ behavior cast a shadow over a solid win.
“It was uncalled for,” Butler said. “There is a time and a place for stuff like that, but one place is not the basketball court. Take that outside if you’re going to do it. I don’t know what the fans are trying to prove whether they’re tough or not but it’s not what we do. I would appreciate it if they would stop. It might cost us a game.”
Pittsburgh (16-6, 6-4) was outrebounded 45-31, shot an abysmal 30 percent from the field, made just six field goals after halftime and was held to its second-lowest scoring total of the season.
Butler’s 3-pointer put West Virginia ahead by double digits 4 minutes after halftime before Pittsburgh mounted a comeback.
By John Raby
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