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"R.R." Haunts the Mountaineers

The Pete held its collective breath as Ramon let go....

But everyone but this guy was jumping with joy.
I'm not sure which man is despised more in Morgantown right now, Ronald Ramon or Rich Rodriguez. Thanks to a clutch three pointer as time expired last night, the former of those two knocked off the WVU basketball team in a game that the Mountaineers needed to, and should have won. Rodriguez, as we all know, was the man responsible for the colossal letdown against Pitt in a WVU's final game of the regular season. The stakes last night weren't nearly as high, but the finish was as exciting as you'll ever see.

I'll be blunt: the first 35 minutes of the game consisted of terrible basketball. Pitt couldn't shoot and West Virginia simply isn't that good of a team, but was bailed out by impressive three point shooting. Lots of turnovers, fouls, missed shots (WAY too many missed foul shots), guys playing lazy defense getting beat for easy layups, missed layups, etc. It was bad, but Pitt looked like they would manage to get out with a win. Then, the game just got crazy:


With 4:58 to go, Tyrell Biggs missed a foul shot. Blair jumped for the rebound, WVU's Alexander (behind Blair) jumped as well and bumped into Blair, all while Blair's other arm was entangled with Cam Thoroughman. A foul was whistled on Blair, (I don't even think he fouled ANYONE) but Alexander went to the line and made two free-throws. Jamie Dixon claims he was telling the refs the whole time that Thoroughman was fouled, not Alexander, and when a timeout was called just after the free-throws, the refs reviewed the play. In the arena, we hadn't picked up on this, so we were confused as to why the refs were conferencing. Then, the announcer told us the free throws wouldn't count, and the other guy would re-shoot. This was really strange, but we realized it was a good thing so our anger at the refs subsided. When Thoroughman missed the front end of the 1-and-1, WVU had simply lost two points. That would hurt. Pitt would go up 5, but WVU would score the next 8, with the go ahead points coming on a banked in three by Darris Nichols. With a minute left, urgency filled the Pete. The Panthers, down 3, had the ball under the basket, and ran a beautiful play that got 2 points right back. Nobody was open, so Benjamin, the inbounder, lobbed the ball up to Blair, who jumped and tipped the ball right back to Keith, who was wide open for a dunk. I've seen a similar play in which the ball is thrown off the defender's back, but this play seems more reliable. Anyway, up 1, WVU was stuffed on the next posession. Pitt had the ball with 20 seconds and a chance to go ahead, but the ball went into Blair, who chucked the ball into the air right by the hoop, expecting but not getting a foul call. Pitt fouled with 9 seconds left, and WVU went 1-for-2 on the foul shots, leaving them with a 2-point lead with Pitt's ball (sound familiar?). Pitt called timeout, and ran their usual screen up high (worked against Duke, failed at Nova). Nothing developing, Ramon got the ball on the wing, well-covered. Benjamin came open quite a ways behind the arc, and he got the ball. At this point, chances of scoring looked bleak. Pitt looked clueless. Keith drove clumsily, dragging his defender and attracting Ramon's. Benjamin immediately dished it to Ronald, who buried a sweet three. As the ball went flawlessly through the net, the Pete erupted, as players, students, fans (yours truly included) and everyone else went nuts. Levance Fields led the team in mobbing Ramon, as the entire crowd stayed to soak it in and watch the replay. Awesome feeling.


Beating WVU was something that will really help Pitt going into the stretch this season. Although they were favored, WVU is never an easy win, the 'Eers get hot sometimes, and Pitt was of course missing two key starters. The two teams were tied in Big East play at 5-4 at tip-off, so the difference is significant. Pitt is now back in the running for a Big East Tourney bye while WVU has fallen into the middle clump of mediocrity with the likes of Syracuse, Seton Hall, Cincy, Providence, and DePaul. Big win for the Panthers. Pitt has some more time off until they face Providence at home on Tuesday.