Panthers Host West Virginia Friday in Backyard Brawl presented by EQT

Pitt (2-1, 1-0 ACC) vs. West Virginia (1-0, 0-0 Big 12)
Backyard Brawl presented by EQT
Friday, Nov. 15, 2019 • 7:00 PM • ESPNU
Pittsburgh, Pa. • Petersen Events Center

The Opening Tip
• Pitt hosts West Virginia in the 187th addition of the Backyard Brawl presented by EQT Friday, Nov. 15 at the Petersen Events Center. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m. on ESPNU.
• The Panthers' backcourt trio of Ryan Murphy (17.0 ppg.), Trey McGowens (15.0 ppg.) and Xavier Johnson (10.0 ppg.) combine to average 42.0 points per game. The group has accounted for 61.8 percent (126-of-204) of Pitt's scoring through three games.
• Terrell Brown is off to a solid start in the post for the Panthers averaging 9.7 points, 5.7 rebounds and 3.7 blocks per game, while shooting a team-high 71.4 percent (10-of-14) from the field.
• Pitt has dropped the past three meetings with West Virginia and is looking to avoid the first four-game losing streak to the Mountaineers since the 1975-76 through 1976-77 seasons.
• The first official game in the Pitt-West Virginia series was played Feb. 17, 1906 with the Panthers posting a 30-25 win. The two teams also played exhibition games in 1904 and 1905 prior to Pitt adding men's basketball as a varsity sport.

By The Numbers
• Pitt fell to Nicholls State, 75-70, Nov. 9 to move to 70-3 all-time at the Petersen Events Center in non-conference play in the month of November.
• The Panthers are 151-9 (.944) in non-conference action at the Petersen Events Center. Pitt has not lost consecutive non-conference home games since the 1996-97 season, five seasons before the Petersen Events Center opened.
• Pitt, Georgia Tech and Notre Dame are the only schools in the ACC to return season leaders in points, rebounds, blocks and steals from a year ago.
• The Panthers led the ACC with 16.5 made free throws per game and made 20 or more free throws in a game 11 times a year ago. Pitt made 22 free throws against Florida State and Robert Morris to improve to 9-4 under Jeff Capel when making 20 or more free throws in a game.
• Ryan Murphy is tied for eighth in the ACC in scoring at 17.0 points per game. He also ranks among the conference leaders in field goal percentage (.500 - T-11th), free throw percentage (.800 - T-7th), three-point percentage (.474 - 5th) and three-point field goals (3.0 - T-3rd).
• Trey McGowens is averaging 15.0 points, a team-high 6.7 rebounds and 4.0 assists per game. McGowens and North Carolina's Cole Anthony are the only two players in the ACC averaging at least 15.0 points, 5.0 rebounds and 4.0 assists per game.
• Xavier Johnson has scored in double figures in 30 of 36 career games. He scored 10 or more points in the first 14 games against non-conference opponents since arriving at Pitt before finishing with seven points, six rebounds and seven assists in Tuesday's win at Robert Morris.
• Xavier Johnson (21) and Trey McGowens (18) scored 39 of Pitt's 59 points in last season's Backyard Brawl contest at West Virginia. The duo combined to go 16-of-18 (.889) from the foul line, while adding 10 rebounds and nine steals in the game.
• Pitt forced 26 West Viriginia turnovers and had a season-high 14 steals in in last year's meeting between the two schools. Trey McGowens matched a Pitt freshman record with seven steals in the contest.
• Terrell Brown ranks third in the ACC with 3.7 blocks per game and is now sixth at Pitt with 117 career blocked shots.
• Ryan Murphy has made two or more three-point field goals in all three games this season. He is 9-of-19 (.474) from three-point range on the year and is 41-of-99 (.414) from long range during his Division I career.
• Xavier Johnson has drawn five offensive fouls through three games and has drawn 30 offensive fouls in 36 career games.
• Pitt has received four double-figure scoring games off the bench this season. Panther reserves combine to averaging 28.3 bench points per game. Ryan Murphy has a pair of games off the bench with 10 or more points scored, including a career-best 28 points against Nicholls State.
• Jeff Capel has guided his teams to a 58-8 (.879) ledger in non-conference home games over the course of his 11 seasons as a head coach.
• Pitt is averaging 40.3 points per game, while shooting 47.6 percent (39-of-82) from the field, in the second half of play this season. Ryan Murphy and Trey McGowens have led the offensive attack at 9.7 and 9.0 points per second half, respectively. Terrell Brown is averaging 7.0 points on 8-of-10 shooting fromthe field after halftime.

Last Time Out
• Pitt posted a 71-57 road win over Robert Morris Nov. 12 in the inaugural basketball game at Peoples Court at the UPMC Events Center. The win snapped a 24-game road losing skid for the Panthers that dated back to the 2016-17 season.
• Trey McGowens filled the stat sheet with a game-high 25 points to go along with a career-best eight rebounds, five assists and four steals. He was 8-of-13 from the field and 8-of-10 from the foul line in the win.
• The Panthers also received double-figure scoring efforts from Au'Diese Toney (11), Ryan Murphy (10) and Justin Champagnie (10).
• Terrell Brown added eight points, nine rebounds, five blocked shots and two steals, while Xavier Johnson finished with seven points, six rebounds and seven assists.
• Pitt scored the first seven points of the game before Robert Morris countered with an 18-0 run to take an 11-point lead. The Panthers tied the game up by halftime and outscored Robert Morris 44-30 in the second half to secure the win.
• Pitt posted a 39-27 rebounding advantage as five different players recorded five or more rebounds in the contest.
• The Panthers matched a season-high with 22 made free throws and finished the game 22-of-27 (.815) from the charity stripe.

Panthers Host West Virginia Friday in Backyard Brawl presented by EQT

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Players Mentioned

Terrell Brown

Justin Champagnie

Xavier Johnson

Trey McGowens

Ryan Murphy

Au'Diese Toney