National Basketball Association
West Virginia 69, Pittsburgh 59
When: 12:00 PM ET, Saturday, December 8, 2018
Where: WVU Coliseum, Morgantown, West Virginia
Officials:
Attendance:
N/A
By Field Level Media
Beetle Bolden scored 18 points and Sagaba Konate blocked seven shots to break West Virginia's career mark of 190 in a 69-59 win over Pitt on Saturday in Morgantown, W.Va.
Konate, the Mali native who played his high school basketball an hour from Pitt's campus, finished with 16 points and nine rebounds for the Mountaineers (6-3), who won despite 26 turnovers.
Point guard Xavier Johnson's 21 points were offset by eight turnovers for Pitt (7-3), which committed a season-worst 24 turnovers and lost its second game in the last six days.
Trey McGowens added 18 points for the Panthers, who shot 31.5 percent overall and 6-of-23 from 3-point range.
Esa Ahmad added 13 points and seven rebounds for West Virginia, which led 41-33 on the boards.
Referees twice issued double-technicals in the opening eight minutes of play in a chippy reunion of rivals who had faced off 185 times.
Pitt coach Jeff Capel received a second-half technical after wandering inside the 3-point line to protest a no-call on Jared Wilson-Frame's blocked layup.
The Panthers, who trailed 49-34 at that point, twice climbed within eight points.
Pitt led 14-11 when Sidy N'Dir dunked over Konate on a fast break, but over the ensuing 8:32, the Panthers went without a basket and committed seven turnovers. Included in a string of five missed shots was Konate swatting down a Malik Ellison layup, and West Virginia's Brandon Knapper converted a runner on the opposite end for a 34-21 lead.
Pitt entered averaging 14 turnovers and had that many by halftime when it trailed 39-27.
With WVU struggling to solve its point guard dilemma, Bolden played a season-high 30 minutes. He was 4-of-11 from the floor but 7-of-8 at the foul line.?
--Field Level Media
Top Game Performances
| Pittsburgh |
|
West Virginia |
|
Xavier Johnson 21 |
Scoring |
James Bolden 18 |
|
Xavier Johnson 2 |
Assists |
James Bolden 4 |
|
Malik Ellison 6 |
Rebounds |
Sagaba Konate 9 |
|
Xavier Johnson 10 |
Free Throws Made |
James Bolden 7 |
|
Trey McGowens 7 |
Steals |
Esa Ahmad 2 |
|
Terrell Brown 2 |
Blocks |
Sagaba Konate 7 |
Team Stats Summary
| Team |
Points |
FG% |
3PM-3PA |
FTM-FTA |
Assists |
Rebounds |
Blocks |
Steals |
Turnovers |
| Pittsburgh
|
59 |
31.5 |
6-23 |
19-23 |
7 |
31 |
5 |
14 |
24 |
| West Virginia
|
69 |
40.0 |
5-21 |
20-24 |
11 |
40 |
12 |
6 |
26 |
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