Monday, February 13, 2006
Pittsnolge, WVU Bounce Back At Georgetown
Kevin Pittsnogle and the Mountaineer basketball team bounced back from a disappointing performance at Pitt on Thursday to score an impressive victory over 16th-ranked Georgetown, 71-56, at the MCI Center in Washington, D.C., Sunday night.
Pittsnogle had been held scoreless by the Panthers earlier in the week, as Pitt handed WVU its first Big East loss of the season. But West Virginia’s senior center responded with a 25-point effort Sunday against the Hoyas, hitting 10 of his 15 field goal attempts and three of his seven three-point tries. With the win, the Mountaineers moved to 9-1 in the conference, tied for the top spot with Connecticut and Villanova. WVU, ranked ninth in the country in last week’s polls, is also 18-5 overall, as it defeated its fourth top 20 team on the road this season. Georgetown fell to 17-5 overall and 8-3 in Big East play.
The first half looked for a while like it would be a Hoya run-away. Though WVU led by seven, 20-13, eight minutes in, Georgetown went on a 20-2 tear over the next four minutes to assume a 33-22 lead. West Virginia righted the ship slightly in the last few minutes before the half, cutting the deficit to 37-29 by the break.
Georgetown sliced up West Virginia’s 1-3-1 zone defense in the field half, shooting 59 percent from the field in the first 20 minutes. But John Beilein switched his defensive attack to a man-to-man in the second half, and the Hoyas were stifled by it, scoring just 19 points in the final period. GU hit just eight of its 33 field goal attempts in the second half (24.2 percent) and was two of 14 from three-point range (14.3 percent).
On the other end, West Virginia’s offense, led by Pittsnogle, began finding the mark. Kevin scored 15 of his game-high 25 in the second half, and Mike Gansey added 10 of his 13 in the decisive final 20 minutes. Jo Herber chipped in 13 for WVU. The Mountaineers shot 50.9 percent from the field for the game and a blistering 62.5 percent (15 of 24) in the second half. Unusually, most of West Virginia’s damage was done inside the three-point arch, as WVU made only one of three three-point attempts in the second half.
Jeff Green contributed 20 points for Georgetown, 15 of them in the second half. But the Hoyas got little offense from anyone else in the second half, as the rest of the GU players totaled just four in the period.
West Virginia’s three-game road swing will conclude on Tuesday when the Mountaineers face Seton Hall at Continental Airlines Arena in East Rutherford, N.J. Tipoff is slated for 7:30 p.m.
Pittsnogle had been held scoreless by the Panthers earlier in the week, as Pitt handed WVU its first Big East loss of the season. But West Virginia’s senior center responded with a 25-point effort Sunday against the Hoyas, hitting 10 of his 15 field goal attempts and three of his seven three-point tries. With the win, the Mountaineers moved to 9-1 in the conference, tied for the top spot with Connecticut and Villanova. WVU, ranked ninth in the country in last week’s polls, is also 18-5 overall, as it defeated its fourth top 20 team on the road this season. Georgetown fell to 17-5 overall and 8-3 in Big East play.
The first half looked for a while like it would be a Hoya run-away. Though WVU led by seven, 20-13, eight minutes in, Georgetown went on a 20-2 tear over the next four minutes to assume a 33-22 lead. West Virginia righted the ship slightly in the last few minutes before the half, cutting the deficit to 37-29 by the break.
Georgetown sliced up West Virginia’s 1-3-1 zone defense in the field half, shooting 59 percent from the field in the first 20 minutes. But John Beilein switched his defensive attack to a man-to-man in the second half, and the Hoyas were stifled by it, scoring just 19 points in the final period. GU hit just eight of its 33 field goal attempts in the second half (24.2 percent) and was two of 14 from three-point range (14.3 percent).
On the other end, West Virginia’s offense, led by Pittsnogle, began finding the mark. Kevin scored 15 of his game-high 25 in the second half, and Mike Gansey added 10 of his 13 in the decisive final 20 minutes. Jo Herber chipped in 13 for WVU. The Mountaineers shot 50.9 percent from the field for the game and a blistering 62.5 percent (15 of 24) in the second half. Unusually, most of West Virginia’s damage was done inside the three-point arch, as WVU made only one of three three-point attempts in the second half.
Jeff Green contributed 20 points for Georgetown, 15 of them in the second half. But the Hoyas got little offense from anyone else in the second half, as the rest of the GU players totaled just four in the period.
West Virginia’s three-game road swing will conclude on Tuesday when the Mountaineers face Seton Hall at Continental Airlines Arena in East Rutherford, N.J. Tipoff is slated for 7:30 p.m.
