West Virginia’s Pittsnogle Leaves Pittsburgh Breathless

Kevin Pittsnogle is so unaccustomed to starting that he had to temporarily leave West Virginia’s game against No. 16 Pittsburgh to catch his breath.

When he returned, he gave Pitt plenty of problems.

Pittsnogle scored eight of his career-high 27 points in overtime to lead West Virginia to an 83-78 win over Pittsburgh on Saturday night. The 6-foot-11 Pittsnogle, starting for only the second time this season, was averaging eight points a game. He got the start because center D’or Fischer did not play because of illness.

“When I got my second wind pretty fast, I was ready to go,” said Pittsnogle, whose previous high was 26 points in 2003. “My performance wasn’t enough to write me in the history book, but beating Pitt makes it a lot better.”

West Virginia, which improved to 13-7 overall and 3-6 in the Big East Conference, ended a five-game losing streak to its rival 70 miles to the north.

Pittsnogle converted a three-point play and a three-point basket a minute apart to give the Mountaineers their biggest lead, 73-66, with 2:08 left in overtime.

“Pittsnogle is a hard matchup for us and when he’s shooting the ball from [outside], it becomes very difficult to guard for our bigger guys,” said Pitt Coach Jamie Dixon, whose team fell to 15-4 and 5-3. “Sometimes guys step up in the absence of other guys.”

The Mountaineers committed only four turnovers and erased a double-digit deficit in the second half to beat a ranked team for the first time in five tries during a grueling three-week stretch.