Pitt forward Robinson's defense will be put to test at WVU
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West Virginia's Kevin Jones is the Big East's leading scorer and top rebounder.
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Pitt forward Nasir Robinson had one of the best offensive games of his career Saturday when he scored 23 points to lead the Panthers to a 72-60 victory against Georgetown. If the Panthers want to make it three consecutive victories tonight at rival West Virginia, Robinson is going to have to play one of the best defensive games of his career.
Robinson will be matched up against Kevin Jones, the Big East Conference's leading scorer and top rebounder. Jones is the leader of a resurgent Mountaineers team that is a surprising 5-4 in Big East play heading into the game at WVU Coliseum.
Jones enters the game averaging 20.9 points and 11.4 rebounds per game. Jones, a 6-foot-8, 260-pound senior, had 18 rebounds in a game against Kent State, 17 against St. John's and 16 against Baylor. He has reached double figures in rebounds in 14 of West Virginia's 22 games.
- Matchup: Pitt (13-9, 2-7 Big East) vs. West Virginia (15-7, 5-4), 7 p.m. today, WVU Coliseum, Morgantown, W.Va.
- TV, radio, Internet: ESPN, KDKA-FM (93.7), www.pittsburghpanthers.com .
- Pitt: Coming off 72-60 victory against Georgetown. ... Senior F Nasir Robinson was 9 for 9 from the field, scored 23 points vs. Hoyas and improved his season shooting percentage to .604. ... Sophomore F Lamar Patterson had a career high 18 points and tied a career high with seven assists. ... Beat West Virginia twice last season, including a 71-66 victory at WVU Coliseum.
- West Virginia : Coming off 63-61 loss at Syracuse. ... Senior F Kevin Jones (20.9 ppg, 11.6 rpg) is the Big East Conference's leading scorer and led the Mountaineers with 20 points in the loss vs. Orange. ... Senior G Darryl Bryant (17.4 ppg, 2.8 rpg) is playing more than 36 minutes per game. ... Junior C Deniz Kilicli (10.5 ppg, 5.4 rpg) was 9 for 13 from the field and scored 19 points in a game against Pitt at West Virginia a year ago.
- Hidden stat: Pitt freshman John Johnson is second in the Big East in 3-point shooting percentage. Johnson has made 24 of 53 (45.2) from behind the 3-point arc.
Jones has been especially impressive on the offensive boards, averaging 4.4 offensive rebounds per game.
"Keeping Kevin off the glass is going to be key," junior point guard Tray Woodall said. "It's tough to keep that guy off the glass. I think he's the all-time leading offensive rebounder in West Virginia history. But Nas always does a pretty good job playing against him."
Jones decided between West Virginia and Pitt in his recruiting process four years ago. Who knows how Robinson's career would have turned out if Jones had signed with Pitt?
Jones is the typical power forward coach Jamie Dixon covets, but Robinson developed into a three-year starter and has done well in his own regard even though he doesn't put up big numbers the way Jones does. And as Woodall pointed out, Robinson almost always has risen to the occasion and defended Jones well.
In two games against Pitt a year ago Jones managed only 20 points and 10 rebounds. In seven career games against Pitt, Jones is averaging 8.4 points and 4.7 rebounds per game. Robinson has been matched up on Jones the past two seasons.
"He's a good rebounder, a good scorer," said sophomore forward Lamar Patterson, who could defend Jones some when Robinson is out of the game. "He pretty much can do it all. We want to be aggressive and physical with him. We'll slow him down."
West Virginia (15-7, 5-4) has lost two consecutive games, including a controversial 63-61 loss Saturday at Syracuse when officials failed to call what appeared to be goaltending in the final seconds that would have sent the game to overtime.
The Mountaineers have been impressive at home this season. They are 10-1 at WVU Coliseum and own victories there against No. 9 Georgetown and Cincinnati.
Coach Bob Huggins has meshed several newcomers into his rotation. Jones, senior guard Darryl Bryant and junior center Deniz Kilicli are the only players on the roster with experience from a year ago. Freshmen Jabarie Hinds and Keaton Miles are starters and freshmen Gary Browne and Aaron Brown are his top two players off the bench.
After the Mountaineers lost by 14 at St. John's last week, Huggins opined that his young players might be wearing down because they had never played as many games in a season, but they rebounded well from that loss and played the No. 4 Orange tough on the road.
The Panthers have taken five of the past six against West Virginia, including a 71-66 victory at WVU Coliseum a year ago when they were without Ashton Gibbs.
"We won there last year," Dixon said. "We played well. Every home court is tough in this conference. The challenges are similar in a lot of places. We need to play well. I think we understand that. They're a good team. They have a good crowd. We've played well down there before. We'll do everything we can to play well again."
Woodall said those positive experiences against the Mountaineers in recent years will help.
"This is my fourth year going down there," Woodall said. "I don't think the environment will bother us as a team. It might affect some of our younger guys, but I've already talked to a lot of the guys about it. I've settled them down. The crowd shouldn't bother us. We just want to go out there and keep playing Pitt basketball."
First Published January 30, 2012 12:00 am
