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Monday, January 02, 2006

Pittsnogle Gets 34 in Win

Pittsnogle Gets 34 in Win
By Justin Zackal for MSNsportsNET.com

  • GAME BOX | PHOTO GALLERY

    Pittsnogle

    MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – Kevin Pittsnogle poured in a career high 34 points as the 25th-ranked West Virginia men’s basketball team dispatched visiting Canisius, 80-68, Friday night at the WVU Coliseum in front of a crowd of 9,744.

    Pittsnogle bucketed his 34 points on 12-of-20 shooting from the field, including 4-of-5 from 3-point range. The 6-foot-11 center from Martinsburg also snared a game-high seven rebounds and shot a perfect 6-of-6 from the foul line in 37 minutes of action.

    “He is really developing as a complete player,” said WVU head coach John Beilein. “We love working with him.”

    “He is a very good shooter,” said Canisius coach Mike MacDonald. “West Virginia uses him perfectly. He is in a great system and proved today that he can score points.”

    There was a glaring mismatch in height as Canisius uses a four-guard starting lineup and its lone forward was just 6 feet 6.

    “He’s bigger than our guys and he was able to shoot over them,” MacDonald added.

    Pittsnogle’s previous career high was 27 points scored set twice and most recently against Kentucky this season in the Guardians Classic. His 3-pointer with 12:56 remaining in the second half gave the Mountaineers’ their largest lead of the game at 28 points (60-32).

    The Mountaineers (8-3) led by 20 points at the half and as many as 28 points on three occasions before the Golden Griffins (1-8) whittled the lead down to seven points (70-63) with 1:12 remaining in the game.

    “I hope the fans remember the first 30 minutes and not the last 10,” Beilein said. “They guarded us very well and created turnovers. We got sloppy mentally.”

    Forwards Mike Gansey and Frank Young each scored in double figures with 15 and 13, respectively. Young was 3-for-4 from 3-point range helping WVU shoot 50 percent (12-24) from behind the arc.

    Overall from the field, the Mountaineers were 54.2 percent (26-48), compared to the Golden Griffins making 44.8 percent (26-58).

    Senior point guard J.D. Collins distributed a career-high eight assists, eclipsing his previous mark of seven set four times.

    Four Canisius players scored in double figures led by guard Chuck Harris’ 16 points, followed by forward Darnell Wilson’s 14 and Corey Herring bucketing 14 after coming off the bench. Kevin Downey, the team’s leading rebounder with eight, was the other double-digit scorer with 10.

    The game marked WVU’s last non-conference tune-up before heading into BIG EAST play on Jan. 5 at South Florida. The Mountaineers have two non-conference games remaining on their schedule, at UCLA on Jan. 21 and against Marshall in the Capital Classic in Charleston on Jan. 25.

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