Blake Hinson, Will Jeffress lead Pitt to 1st Backyard Brawl victory since 2012
Share this post:
MORGANTOWN, W.Va — Many players were catalysts behind Pitt’s 80-63 victory Wednesday night against West Virginia in the 190th version of the basketball Backyard Brawl.
• Blake Hinson scored a career-high 29 points, breaking his personal best (27) set only three days ago. He also broke a Pitt record with nine 3-pointers.
• Freshman point guard Bub Carrington scored 16 points, with nine assists and only one turnover.
• Ismael Leggett reached double digits with 10 points while hitting all four of his foul shots, giving him a 92.3% accuracy rate at the free throw line (36 of 39) for the season.
• Guillermo Diaz Graham hit 6 of 7 shots while stepping out to hit 3 of 4 from beyond the arc. He joined fellow big man Federiko Federiko in holding WVU’s Jesse Edwards to two offensive rebounds, half his average for the season.
Pitt coach Jeff Capel talked about them all in his postgame chat with reporters inside West Virginia Coliseum, not ignoring the two charging fouls Jorge Diaz Graham created against the Mountaineers. But he saved some special praise for a man who scored one point.
“I thought the guy who changed the game was Will (Jeffress),” Capel said of the player seated to his right.
While Capel spoke those words, the player seated to his left concurred.
“Yes, sir,” Hinson said.
Pitt (6-3) stopped a five-game losing streak against West Virginia with its first victory against the Mountaineers (3-5) since 2012.
Jeffress played a season high 25 minutes, 51 seconds, trying only two shots, grabbing a game-high nine rebounds and playing suffocating defense on WVU’s Quinn Slazinski in the second half. Slazinski ended up with 22 points, but only six after halftime. For the game, Pitt was plus-22 in points with Jeffress on the floor.
“It’s a testament because it doesn’t show up as far as points,” Capel said. “But he did give us energy defensively, rebounding. He was a connector. He was an unbelievable communicator. He showed grit and toughness that really, really helped us be better.”
“That is what it looks like to be a winner,” Hinson said. “That’s the definition of being a winner. Being able to come out there and put winning first. That’s what it looks like. I appreciate his work and I love him for it.”
Jeffress, a junior who missed all of last season with a foot injury, is taking advantage of every moment, no matter how limited they may be.
“I just knew I was going to give everything I had,” he said, “no matter how much I played or what the stat sheet said.”
Capel was proud of how his team reacted in its first game on an opponent’s home court. The crowd of 12,301 was decidedly against the Panthers, except for a small pocket of Oakland Zoo members in an upper corner of the Coliseum.
“I hope they know how much we appreciate (them),” Hinson said. “We played super hard, with them in mind.”
“Really, really proud of our team to show fight and resiliency and togetherness,” Capel said. “Guys made big plays throughout the whole game. I can talk about every one of them because every one of them stepped in and did some huge things.”
Pitt scored more than half its points (48) on 16-of-38 3-point shooting, but the game hung in the balance for anyone to take it with 15 minutes to play.
The Panthers led 45-43, getting 36 on 3-pointers. At that point, Pitt went on a 24-9 surge, fueled by foul shots and 2-pointers, with a random 3-pointer from Hinson thrown in the middle of it. He missed part of that blitz after going to the bench with three fouls.
“We wanted to drive. We found something that was working for us, and we were able to go to it,” Capel said. “(Leggett) was able to go downhill and generate some plays at the basket. We just tried to take what the defense gave us.”
True to his basketball nature, Hinson showed no reluctance to shoot from long range, a few times only small steps across the half-court line.
“I’m always feeling it,” he said, without a trace of shyness.
After a four-game shooting slump when Pitt shot only 36.4% from the field, Pitt was 22 of 53 (41.9%), always with the green light from the coach. WVU, meanwhile, was only 3 of 20 from long range.
“That’s who we are,” Capel said. “I think we can shoot the basketball. This is more of who I think we can be. More importantly, I thought we did a great job of moving the basketball and sharing it.
“We want to generate good shots and we live with the results.”
Hinson said he appreciates the Backyard Brawl rivalry, but the victory was important for a basic reason: Pitt had lost three of its past four games.
“It just means a lot because we needed a win,” he said.