Pitt, West Virginia set date for renewal of the basketball Backyard Brawl

Pitt will try to end West Virginia’s six-game winning streak in the basketball version of the Backyard Brawl when the Panthers travel to Morgantown, W.Va., on Dec. 6 for the 190th meeting between the two rival schools. The game will mark the first time since 2012 that Pitt and West Virginia will meet after reaching the NCAA Tournament the previous season.

Pitt/WVU is the most-played series in Pitt program history, dating to a 30-25 Panthers victory in 1906. West Virginia won 81-56 last season at the Petersen Events Center.

The Mountaineers (19-15 last season) have assembled a roster for next season featuring four players recruited from the NCAA transfer portal. They include a familiar face for the Panthers, former ACC rival and Syracuse center Jesse Edwards, who averaged a double-double last season for the Orange (14.5 points and 10.3 rebounds per game).

Also joining West Virginia this offseason are Kerr Kriisa, a guard who averaged 9.9 points and 5.5 assists per game for Arizona, and former Manhattan guards Jose Perez and Omar Silverio, who averaged 18.9 and 10.9 points, respectively, during the 2021-22 season.

West Virginia was set to welcome former Pitt center John Hugley for a recruiting visit this weekend, but both sides mutually agreed to cancel the meeting. Hugley subsequently committed to Oklahoma on Thursday.

The Panthers haven’t defeated the Mountaineers since 2012 when both teams were members of the Big East. Pitt won 72-66, in Morgantown, the last of Pitt’s four-game Backyard Brawl winning streak.

West Virginia holds a 101-88 advantage in the series, but Pitt has won five in a row once and four consecutive twice, dating to 2002.

Pitt (24-12 last season) will return starters Blake Hinson and Federiko Federiko to a roster that also will include transfers Ishmael Leggett and Zack Austin, guard Dior Johnson and rising sophomores Guillermo and Jorge Diaz Graham and former starter William Jeffress.

Hinson was a second-team All-ACC selection, who led the Panthers in scoring (15.3), rebounds (6.0) and 3-pointers (97) last season. Hinson and Alabama’s Brandon Miller were the only players in the NCAA to average 15.0 or more points and 6.0 or more rebounds per game with 95 or more made 3s. Federiko averaged 6.6 points and 5.3 rebounds per game while shooting a team-high 66.7% (94 of 141).