Friday March 29th, 2024 8:15AM

No. 11 West Virginia Remains Unbeaten

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MORGANTOWN, W.Va. - West Virginia remained the only unbeaten team in the Big East because of another 3-point binge. The Mountaineers hit seven 3-pointers in their first 10 shots of the second half and went on to a 66-57 victory over Cincinnati on Saturday.<br> <br> West Virginia (17-4, 8-0) became just the fifth Big East school - and the first since Connecticut in 1993-94 - to win its first eight conference games.<br> <br> &#34;We wanted to play more aggressive in the second half,&#34; said West Virginia&#39;s Mike Gansey, who scored 14 points. &#34;Kevin (Pittsnogle) hit some 3s and our energy turned up.&#34;<br> <br> Pittsnogle, who scored all 12 of his points on 3-pointers, became a first-time father on Friday evening when his wife, Heather, gave birth to Kwynsie James. <br> <br> &#34;Energy-wise, everything was hard,&#34; said Pittsnogle, who was 4-of-17 from the field. &#34;Mentally, I could focus, and my teammates needed me. Now I just want to take the next few days and rest.&#34;<br> <br> Eric Hicks had 22 points and 11 rebounds - his eighth double-double in the last 11 games - for Cincinnati (15-8, 4-5).<br> <br> West Virginia trailed by three points at halftime due to a combination of lackluster offense and Cincinnati&#39;s superior inside presence. The Mountaineers missed 13 of their first 17 3-point shots before tweaking the offense at halftime.<br> <br> The change - more backdoor cuts to open up the perimeter - spurred a 24-12 run to start the second half. All five West Virginia starters hit at least one 3-pointer during the run.<br> <br> Sixth-man Patrick Beilein&#39;s 3 gave West Virginia its largest lead, 57-45, with 6:33 remaining. Pittsnogle hit two 3-pointers to start the run.<br> <br> Pittsnogle had been up all of Thursday night when his wife went into labor.<br> <br> &#34;Kevin is younger than most of our seniors, and some men could not handle all the attention the way he has,&#34; West Virginia coach John Beilein said. &#34;He is a very special person.&#34;<br> <br> Cincinnati got no closer than seven points after the run and West Virginia hit five of six free throws down the stretch to seal the win.<br> <br> West Virginia blew large second-half leads in its last two games - both wins - but the Mountaineers didn&#39;t wait for a nail-biting finish this time.<br> <br> West Virginia forced the Bearcats into 18 turnovers overall and limited them to 36 percent shooting in the second half.<br> <br> The Mountaineers also shot 36 percent for the game but committed just five fouls in their first meeting with Cincinnati in Morgantown in 27 years. Cincinnati attempted just four free throws.<br> <br> &#34;It&#39;s hard for this team to play catch-up against a quality team in this environment,&#34; Cincinnati interim coach Andy Kennedy said. &#34;I thought our shot selection was a little bit poor. We&#39;re dependent on making perimeter jumpers and those things come and go.&#34;<br> <br> Jihad Muhammad had 15 points for the Bearcats and James White added 10.<br> <br> West Virginia heads into the toughest part of its conference schedule with three straight road games at No. 9 Pittsburgh, No. 17 Georgetown and Seton Hall before returning home to play top-ranked Connecticut.<br> <br> Five of its eight remaining Big East games are on the road.<br> <br> &#34;Today&#39;s win was much-needed before the road trip,&#34; John Beilein said. &#34;I can&#39;t really say I am comfortable now. I think our schedule has helped.&#34;
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