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West Virginia facing a must win situation against the Pitt Panthers in today’s Backyard Brawl

SWEEEEEEEET CAROLINE

NCAA Basketball: West Virginia at Pittsburgh Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports

LET’S GET HYPE

WHEN/WHERE

Date: Saturday, December 7th

Tip-Off Time: Noon ET

Where: WVU Coliseum, Morgantown, West Virginia

WATCH/LISTEN

TV: ESPN2

Streaming Video: WatchESPN

Radio: Mountaineer Sports Network from IMG (Radio Affiliates)

Streaming Audio: Locate the Mountaineers Sports Network from IMG on TuneIn Radio (or the TuneIn app for smartphones)

Satellite Radio: XM 199, Sirius 211

ODDS

Spread: West Virginia -11.5

O/U: 147.5

THE ENEMY

Where are they from? Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Series History: West Virginia leads the all-time series 97-88, Pitt leads the world in eating shit.

Last Time: West Virginia 69, Pittsburgh 60 on December 9, 2017 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

SB Nation Blog: Cardiac Hill

Record: 7-2

Record in 2016-17: 8-24 (!! 0-18 ACC!!)

Head Coach: Jeff Capel (1st Season)

NCAA Basketball: Pittsburgh at Iowa Jeffrey Becker-USA TODAY Sports

PROBABLE STARTERS

West Virginia

No. Name Pos Ht. Wt. Class Stats
No. Name Pos Ht. Wt. Class Stats
23 Esa Ahmad F 6-8 225 Sr. 15.4 ppg, 5.9 rpg
21 Wesley Harris F 6-8 200 Jr. 7.4 ppg, 4.6 rpg
50 Sagaba Konate F 6-8 250 Jr. 13.3 ppg, 7.9 rpg
3 James Bolden G 6-0 175 Jr. 11.5 ppg, 2.9 rpg
14 Chase Harler G 6-3 210 Jr. 7.4 ppg, 1.3 rpg

Pitt

No. Name Pos Ht. Wt. Class Stats
No. Name Pos Ht. Wt. Class Stats
15 Kene Chukwuka C 6-9 225 Jr. 5.7 ppg, 5.4 rpg
1 Xavier Johnson G 6-3 190 Fr. 16.3 ppg, 3.9 rpg
2 Trey McGowens G 6-3 185 Fr. 10.2 ppg, 3.0 rpg
3 Malik Ellison G 6-6 215 Jr. 10.2 ppg, 3.7 rpg
5 Au'Diese Toney G 6-6 210 Fr. 9.6 ppg, 6.9 rpg

HOW AFRAID SHOULD WE BE (ON A SCALE OF 1-10)?

Ten. I’ll be completely honest here, this game will tell us if this West Virginia team is going to be a complete disaster for the entirety of the season or if there’s a light at the end of the tunnel. A win today is imperative, doubly so because it’s Pitt. Abandon all hope if we lose.

PREDICTION THAT WILL BE WRONG

We get a 180 of what we got on Tuesday vs. Florida, as Lamont West and Esa Ahmad decide they remember how to play basketball. We get the trickle down effect going and by the middle of the first half it looks like we’re an actual team. Mountaineers win in a close one.

West Virginia 73, Pitt 69