Young drives Pitt past WVU
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — With teammate Levon Kendall in foul trouble, Pittsburgh's Sam Young stepped up and played another stellar game against West Virginia.
Young scored a career-high 21 points to lead No. 7 Pittsburgh to a 60-47 win over West Virginia on Wednesday night to hand the Mountaineers their first home loss of the season.
"He's been practicing well and you get what you earn. He deserved success today," said Pittsburgh coach Jamie Dixon. "He's getting better and better."
Young, a sophomore backup forward who entered the game averaging 5 points, has now scored in double figures in all four meetings with West Virginia.
More importantly for the first-place Panthers (21-3, 9-1 Big East), Young has hit double figures in three straight games after being shut out in the previous four.
"He's really a great player and maybe he's not been able to show it much this year because Levon is so vital to our offense and our defense," Pittsburgh's Aaron Gray said.
Pittsburgh showed no signs of rust from a nine-day layoff and had no trouble scoring inside on the Mountaineers (18-5, 7-4), who were held to a season-low for points. West Virginia's previous low was 50 in a season-opening win over Mount St. Mary's.
West Virginia fell behind by as many as 17 midway through the second half and was held to just two points over the final 4:46.
"We have to play at a higher level to beat them," said West Virginia coach John Beilein. "They are playing at the highest level of anybody in the country. Sam Young was incredible tonight."
Gray added 14 points for Pittsburgh, which scored 34 points in the paint and shot 52 percent (24-of-46) from the floor.
Freshman Da'Sean Butler led West Virginia with 14 points and Frank Young added 12.
The contest marked the start of a tough three-game stretch for the Mountaineers, who play No. 2 UCLA at home on Saturday, then at No. 22 Georgetown on Monday.
The win was the fourth straight for Pittsburgh, which now enters a three-game homestand against Providence, Louisville and a nonconference game with Washington.
Duquesne 111, La Salle 105In Philadelphia, Reggie Jackson scored a career-best 23 points and made all seven of his free throw for the Dukes.Aaron Jackson scored 22 and Kieron Achara 17 for Duquesne (10-11,6-4 Atlantic 10), which had six players score in double figures on the way to its fifth straight victory.Darnell Harris scored 20 points, and Rodney Green and Kimmani Barrett added 18 each for the Explorers (9-15,2-8 Atlantic 10), who lost their fourth straight despite a season-high point total.
