National Basketball Association
BOXSCORE | RECAP
Pittsburgh 80, West Virginia 63
When: 9:00 PM ET, Wednesday, December 6, 2023
Where: WVU Coliseum, Morgantown, West Virginia
Officials: # Doug Sirmons, # Jamie Luckie, # Ray Natali
Attendance: 12301

Entering the 190th installment of the Backyard Brawl, West Virginia coach Josh Eilert reminded his team about the scoring ability of Pitt's Blake Hinson.

The senior then poured in a career-best 29 points Wednesday night, helping the Panthers get past the Mountaineers 80-63 on Wednesday in Morgantown, W.Va.

Hinson went 9-for-15 on 3-point attempts and the Panthers (6-3) knocked down 16 treys in total. Carlton Carrington added 16 points and nine assists.

An 8-0 West Virginia run gave the home team command in the early stages. Pitt started 3-of-10 from beyond the arc before connecting on four of its next six.

That included three straight makes in about a minute and a half that were part of a 10-0 charge. That run was spurred by Guillermo Diaz Graham's trey with 10:18 remaining in the first half. Hinson and Carrington followed suit, the latter making it a four-point play to take a 23-17.

The Panthers then went ahead by as many as seven points, but a West Virginia push late in the period -- powered by Quinn Slazinski's seven points over the final 2:11 -- kept the Mountaineers (3-5) within one at halftime.

Pitt went 13-for-34 (38.2 percent) from the floor in the first half, including 9 of 23 from long range. West Virginia, meanwhile, was 11-for-27 (40.7 percent) - but just 2-for-10 on 3-pointers.

Twice in the first five minutes of the second half, Hinson hit a trey to reclaim the lead after a dunk by Jesse Edwards. After a bucket by the Mountaineers, the Panthers took the lead for good on a 3-pointer by Diaz Graham. It was part of a 12-2 run that helped Pitt pull away.

West Virginia -- which entered the matchup averaging the fewest points per game (64.1) in the Big 12 -- was paced in scoring by Slazinski's 22 points. He added six boards. Edwards had 20 points and nine rebounds.

Pitt entered averaging an Atlantic Coast Conference-high 29 3-point attempts per game. The Panthers put up 23 in the first half alone.

--Field Level Media

Top Game Performances
 
Pittsburgh   West Virginia
Blake Hinson 29 Scoring Quinn Slazinski 22
Carlton Carrington 9 Assists Kobe Johnson 4
William Jeffress 9 Rebounds Jesse Edwards 9
Ishmael Leggett 4 Free Throws Made Quinn Slazinski 9
Zack Austin 1 Steals Kobe Johnson 2
Guillermo Diaz Graham 1 Blocks Akok Akok 2
Team Stats Summary
 
Team Points FG% 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA Assists Rebounds Blocks Steals Turnovers
Pittsburgh 80 46.8 16-38 6-7 12 31 4 4 6
West Virginia 63 41.5 3-20 16-18 11 30 4 2 9