PITTSBURGH (93.7 The Fan) – Current Fordham assistant coach Tray Woodall scored 24 points in Morgantown the last time Pitt won in the series 11 years ago. Panthers look to break a six-game losing streak at the Mountaineers Wednesday night at 9p on 93.7 The Fan.
That was the last game of a four-game winning streak for the Panthers in a series that has featured Big East Tournament matchups, triple-overtimes and legendary players and coaches. It is the 190th meeting, with WVU winning 101.
All of that is part of the lead-up to the game, but Pitt head coach Jeff Capel not giving history lessons to his group about Jerry West, Charles Smith, Kevin Pittsnogle or DeJuan Blair.
"We need to win a basketball game," Capel said. "So I'm not worried about the past, have respect for it. Have great respect for their program, but we need to win a basketball game without getting caught up into the past and history."
"It's going to be enough of a challenge to go on the road in a tough environment. I don't want to cloud their heads with everything else."
Capel is winless in the series and the games haven't been that close. This time, though, it's the Panthers program that appears to be in a better situation. Pitt is coming off an NCAA Tournament appearance while WVU had to fire Mountaineers legendary head coach Bob Huggins this offseason. It's now Capel against interim head coach Josh Eilert and the Panthers have the better record, 5-3 to 3-4.
Mountaineers have wins over Missouri State, Jacksonville State and Bellarmine with a two-point loss to Virginia, six points to St. John's and a dozen to SMU. 6'11" center Jesse Edwards is averaging a double-double 15.7 points and 10 rebounds with senior, 6'9" forward Quinn Slazinski scoring at 16.7 points a game with 15 made three-pointers to lead the team.
Panthers have lost three of four to Florida, Missouri and Clemson with a win over Oregon State in-between. Panthers have struggled in different areas in different games from poor shooting, to lack of ball movement, to being pushed around, to shooting barely 50% from the foul line. Now it's the first game in a hostile, visiting arena, and the Coliseum will be hostile.
"Anytime you go on the road it's hard," Capel said. "You go into an environment like this, especially with a rivalry, there is a lot of emotion."
Capel said they will need to be on their communication and play with toughness. They also will rely on the leadership and experience from senior Blake Hinson, who scored only five points against WVU last year, with only he and three others on the roster who played in the game last year.
Fede energy
After starting the season with a double-double, center Federiko only has one double figure game since, 10 points against Oregon State. In the Panthers' three losses, Fede has combined for 10 points and 13 rebounds while shooting 4 of 12 from the foul line.
"One of the things that made him really good last year was the energy that he played with," Capel said. "He needs to get back to playing with energy, that's the biggest thing. We can help him with that, so he's not playing tired. The biggest thing is energy."
Panthers pregame on 93.7 The Fan starts at 8:30p Wednesday night with the Voice of the Panthers Bill Hillgrove, former Panthers great Curtis Aiken and Cale Berger anchoring at the Pitt Studios.
