PITTSBURGH — Jevon Carter didn’t let early foul trouble curb his playmaking aggression, but his absence during a second-half stretch left No. 18 West Virginia vulnerable during a 69-60 win at Pitt.
Rekindling the Backyard Brawl for the first time in six seasons, the Mountaineers (9-1) built a 20-point first-half lead when Carter poured in 17 of his 19 points.
Most of that cushion was gone when the Panthers (5-5) drew within 61-59 on Marcus Carr’s four-point play — a comeback launched by Carter going to the bench with 13:54 left after picking up his third and fourth fouls on back-to-back possessions.
“If I don’t get those (last) two fouls, we probably keep playing at that same pace, but I sat out a lot,” said Carter, who nonethless delivered another robust stat line with nine assists and six rebounds. “It’s a long season, and we’re going to have to count on other guys.”
BOXSCORE: West Virginia 69, Pitt 60
Pitt’s comeback melted down when it missed its final six shots over the final 5:31 with Carter back on the floor, and Daxter Miles making two baskets to finish with 15 points.
“They were just better than us,” said Panthers coach Kevin Stallings, whose team rallied from a 45-28 halftime hole. “If halftime didn’t come when it did, we might have died on the vine out there. But our kids showed their character and had a chance to win the game.”
Lamont West added 13 points and eight rebounds and reserve Beetle Bolden scored 10 for West Virginia, which posted its ninth consecutive win despite attempting only nine free throws to Pitt’s 31.
MORE: Photo gallery
Ryan Luther’s 13 points and 12 rebounds led Pitt, which committed only four of its 14 turnovers in the second half, when foul trouble sent “Press Virginia” backing off into 1-3-1 zone.
“Surviving. Just trying to survive,” said Mountaineers coach Bob Huggins. “We had two or three starters with four fouls, so I was playing 1-3-1 to protect them.”
After picking up his second foul with 7:40 left in the first half, Carter stayed on the floor, a decision that turned golden for Huggins when his star player scored 12 unanswered points in a 90-second span.
Carter made three straight 3s, one coming off a screen that sent a defender sprawling and had Stalings stomping his way to a technical. Carter made the resulting free throw, and soon the Mountaineers led 38-18.
It looked like a runaway, with visiting Mountaineers fans making more noise than the students in the “Oakland Zoo.” Until Pitt, sporting one of the nation’s youngest rosters, showed some moxie.
“If you had told me I could sign up for 14 turnovers tonight, I would’ve done it,” Stallings said. “And if you told me we could shoot 31 free throws to their nine, I would’ve signed up for that too.”
The Panthers also won the rebounding battle 38-32, leading Huggins to lament, “They kicked our butt on the glass.”
Pitt’s Carr and Shamiel Stevenson each finished with 12 points, though the point guard Carr gave away five turnovers.
Notes, numbers, etc.
West Virginia improved to 3-9 at Petersen Events Center and leads the all-time series 97-88. This was the beginning of a four-year contract. … Stallings fell to 21-22 as the Panthers’ coach. Some early arriving students booed his portion of a pregame video. … Carter, the national steals leader, failed to record a takeaway for the first time this season. … Pitt finished 5-of-26 from 3-point range, including an 0-of-6 night by Jared Wilson-frame. On the opposite side, Miles was 1-of-7 from deep but WVU shot 10-of-26.
Carter confused about fourth foul
After a pump-fake led to a collision with a defender at the 3-point line, Carter presumed he was about to shoot free throws when he learned instead that he had been called for his fourth foul.
“I honestly don’t know what I did to get the fourth foul, but I’m going to watch film and I’ll correct it,” he said.
Huggins disputed that call — “I don’t know if that is a foul or not” — and was more upset with Carter over the previous possession for picking up a cheap reach-in.
For nearly 5 minutes Carter sat out and Pitt shaved the deficit from 13 points to three.
“I liked the game a lot when Carter was on the bench with four fouls,” Stallings said. “I really enjoyed that segment of the game.”
Foul disparity
Even after fouling twice in the final seconds out of desperation, Pitt was whistled for 17 fouls compared to West Virginia’s 25.
That led to the Panthers making 22-of-31 free throws while the Mountaineers finished 5-of-9.
Forward Wes Harris fouled out after playing a season-low 12 minutes, and three other starters finished the game with four fouls.
Asked about frustration over the officiating, Bolden deadpanned, “No sir, the refs were awesome.”
Split crowd
The announced attendance of 7,748 seemed low with the 12,500-seat arena appearing four-fifths full. Several thousand WVU fans arrived during warmups to begin the chants of “Eat S**t Pitt.”
“I loved it,” Bolden said. “Our fans are the best in the nation. For them to come out here and fill those stands up and overcrowd their crowd, it was awesome.”
Carter added that “it felt like a home game,” though the Pitt side had their fun in the second half when the Mountaineers were outscored 33-24.
“When we started getting on a roll, started to cut at their lead and make a run, that’s why they call it a homecourt advantage” Stallings said.
Quotable
Huggins on whether he had fun at the renewal of the Backyard Brawl: “It’s fun for the fans and you guys, but for me it’s work. I’d be a damn liar if I said I had fun.”
Carr after Pitt fell to .500: “It was a winnable game for us.”