http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B9WbfyFnWIU

Not sure words or even pictures can accurately depict the line of students waiting to get into the game at 4:58 p.m. I think a video does it just a little bit more justice.

5:30: Inside the arena, all is quiet for now.

Check the rally towels on the seats — all of them.

5:47: Officials for the evening: Pat Driscoll, Ed Corbett and Sean Corbin. WVU is wearing gold. Pitt is in blue. And now the bad news … Deniz got a haircut and appears to have trimmed the beard a bit, too.

5:56: I realize Pitt does this to a lot of players, and especiallt forwards, but here’s KJ’s career against the Panthers:

2008-09

3-5 shooting, 0-0 3-point range, six points, two rebounds
3-5, 0-0, 6, 2
1-5, 0-0, 2, 3

2009-10

4-9, 2-3, 16, 6
3-11, 0-3, eight, 10

2010-11

5-11, 1-4, 12, eight
4-13, 1-2, nine, two

In summary, a 2-5 revods, 24-for-59 sooting, 4-for-12 from the distance, 53 points, 33 rebounds. Two double-digure scoring games, one double-figure rebounding game, no double-doubles.

6:17: Good and possible great news. After years of wondering why it hasn’t happened, the Coliseum has a special press-only WiFi network. Knock on wood.

6:28: Just infrom Manassas … Osbourn High is retiring Brandon Hogan’s jersey Friday. The Eagles have never retired anyone’s jersey, not that there was a lot of competition for the honor. And did you know Brandon and I are from the same hometown?

6:52: Pretty big reaction during the pregame video montage when Ebanks dunks over Pitt in 2009. Reminds me, Ebanks would be a senior. Imagine that …

6:57: Dude with a violin just set the Coliseum on fire. He played the National Anthem and nailed it, including the night note in ” … land of the FREEEEEEE,” and then waved the rally towel. I think everyone is excited by how surprised they are that that excited them.

7:01: 7NA! And it’s a personalized version that, I must admit, is pretty damn cool. Good job by them. Add to that a graphic that reads “This is Huggstown … not some zoo.” Well, then.

7:05: Hinds has seemed, to me, to be a pretty smooth and effortless player and maybe that’s why I think he always looks pretty calk. He looks pretty energetic and in possession of a purpose tonight. Keep an eye on Bryant defending Gibbs, by the way.

7:07: 4-for-4 start and a 10-5 lead, exactly what the players and the crowd needed. And then Jones blocks Robinson and talks just a little afterward. New and nead side of KJ. Worst part so far is Miles picking up his second foul and Huggins opting for Aaron Brown and not Gary Browne to replace Miles.

7:09: Oversized Tim Tebow cutout head in the crowd!

7:11: Tonight would be a fun night to invite fans with seats higher up to come closer to the floor.

7:12: Pitt in a zone. Still an odd sight, but it works. WVU misses two shots, including a stick-back by Brown, and Robinson gets a layup the other way.

7:14: Keep an eye on John Johnson. Shooter but he’s a pretty good triple-threat guy, especially if he makes a few.

7:16: Huggins tells KJ to calm down after that miss.

7:17: Very good defensive possession by WVU as Brown got switched to Gibbs, as Pitt wanted, but Brown held his own and Johnson missed a desperation 3. He’s 0-for-2. You’re welcome.

7:19: Chris Cline  is being honored at mid-court for his support of the practice facility. Someone tell @colin_dunlap.

7:22: Brown_ with a 3 and Pitt just can’t get inside on offense.

7:24: Truck out and Browne gets Gibbs and Gibbs still can’t get open. And here’s an interesting timeout but Pitt. Jamie Dixon calls a 30 with a new shotclock and 9:06 to go in the half. Nothing wrong with it. Just curious, but he is down 17-9, cant’ get Gibbs open and can’t get a decent inside shot.

7:26: Good play, bad execution. Woodall gets inside, but passed when he needed to shoot and his pass was stolen by Hinds, who was defending Woodall. WVU and then Pitt turn it over in succession.

7:27: Brown falls in love wirh the dribble, picks up his dribble, throws it away and Gibbs gets a layup. Pitt hadn’t scored in 5:52, but WVU only scored five points in that same time.

7:30: 7NA! Dance team! Also, WVU outscored Pitt just 4-0 when Pitt went 5:52 between points. The Mountaineers went 2-for-5 with an 0-for-1 with a lane violation at the free-throw line and then three straight turnovers to end the run. Circle it?

7:32: 6-foot-5 Lamar Patterson is guarding Browne.

7:33: Can’t dribble in traffic against Pitt. And Pitt misses a a layup and a dink, but gets a third chance to go with a free throw to make it 17-14. Quiet suddenly.

7:34: Truck’s left knee and Patteron’s thigh got into a physical altercation there as Bryant drew a foul on Paatterson. Both of them are limping and Patterson come out, which is perhaps good news for Browne, who was having a hard time with Patterson.

7:36: Last basket was at 11:24 for WVU…

7:41: Pitt’s been just as ugly but more effective than WVU to tie the score at 21-21 and take the crowd down several decibels.

7:42: Deniz: 2-for-4 and a non-factor Wednesday, 2-for-10 Saturday, 1-for-5 tonight. Needs to finish and, thus, play bigger when he’s this close. Meanwhile, Pitt now has 14 points in the paint, including eight of the past 12. The exceptions? Free throws on and-ones and free throws on a drive.

7:46: That’s on Deniz, too. He needs to command the ball. It’s his … and as I say that, he authoritatively takes it on the post and scores.

7:48: Good for WVU that Truck is dribbling into Pitt defenders, who are letting it happen. He has nine points and the last six are on free throws for dribbling into defenders. That’s six of WVU’s past 10 points. Pitt has managed 13. And Tray Woodall is wearing a sweater…

7:50: Aaron Brown isn’t having a good night. Pitt looks like its picking on Brown on switches and he just gave up an easy layup when he didn’t switch.

7:51: Might be this simple for the Panthers — they’re just this much better with Woodall in the lineup. He has 16 points on 5-for-7 shooting. The rest of the team has 17 points on 7-for-17 shooting. Pitt started 3-for-12 but is shooting 12-for-24 at the half. WVU started 7-for-11 but is now 10-for-22.

7:53: I’m curious just how resilient the Mountaineers are. I don’t doubt they ahve it in them, honestly, but they’ve been asked a lot since Wednesday and it can mount.

8:05: Ninety seconds left in halftime and WVU cone back out to the floor.

8:07: Again, not to oversimplify, but WVU led 17-9 and was playing very sound when Brown went Skip to My Lou in the corner, threw the ball away and gave Pitt an easy basket. Since then, a 24-12 edge for the Panthers.

8:09: Where the guy who lectured me on who calls what? Thge guy under the basket calls a block in favor of Kilicli, the guy on the far sideline calls a charge on Kilicli. That’s a WVU turnover and a 35-29 lead for a suddenly poised and peaking Pitt.

8:11: It’s bad when The Wink doesn’t work. Great pass and what I thought was a good layin by Hinds. All is well, though, when Jones scoes after the team rebound.

8:13: Oh, here we go. Sean Corbin — ahem — on the far side of the floor calls a T on Huggins. The crowd is losing itself right now and has already thrown a towel — they’re EZToUse! — and we go to a timeout. Huggins spend the first 60 seconds outside the huddle and is just staring Corbin down. There’s a video, I see, but I can’t hear it. Really loud and rowdy all of a sudden. And WVU may need that. The and-one free throw and one T free throw put the Panthers up 41-31 and WVU is a 1-5 team when it trails by 10 this season.

But, man, the crowd is alove right now.

8:18: Curious how long Huggins goes with Miles. Critical point of the game, and maybe the season, and you can’t afford to play 4-on-5 when down 10.

8:21: Miles assists Hinds, but Hinds (and by extension Kilicli) is then victimized by a smart play by Woodall. Hinds is shadowing Woodall as he dribble up the court and sells a bump from Robinson to draw a call. He staggers and there’s no whistle, but Woodall races by and goes for the rim. Kilicl comes over and picks up his third foul.

8:26: Curious if Truck, their best defender, will guard Woodall. Or start shooting. Someone needs to press the  issue from the backcourt. You’re not going to outfrontcourt Pitt.

8:27: Perhaps Browne, who finally did something on offense and drive against Dante Taylor.  He makes two free throws and, hey, you need points. That’s why Truck dribbling into people wasn’t a bad idea in the first half. It’s 45-39.

8:30: Pitt goes zone and KJ rushes a shot, which he’s usually good at, but he wasn’t really set. That leads to a run the other way and Miles’ fourth foul. He sits and WVU has three guards and, as such, its best five on the floor down 46-39.

8:34: Browne withthe ball down five drives into a bunch or arms and loses possession. Johnson lays it in on the other end, and he had to be close to traveling, if he didn’t. Two more KJ free throws has it at 48-43. Pitt seems to be walking a tight rope right now and needs a timeout right there to avoide a five seconds call.

8:37: Jones calls a third timeout, possibly to put Woodall back in the game since he didn’t after the previous two. Maybe CEJ will confuse him? It’s 48-45 and the Panthers are really hanging on here and have just one timeout left and what you figure will be defined by a single possession at some point.

8:39: Woodall is back, but Gibbs runs through some screens and gets an open layup. Meanwhile, Dixon is probably three Jamie Dixon steps out of the coaches’ box as his team plays defense.

8:43: Truck with a 3. Been a while. His last basket was right before the first TV timeout in the first half. Gibbs with an answer and its 54-48.

8:45: Again, Browne with the ball down four this time and he turns it over. Doing more harm than good right now.

8:46: Turk blocks Woodall’s layup and Hinds gets inside for a layup to make it 54-52. Gibbs will have two free throws after the timeout. It’s going to be a long 7:49.

8:49: Jim Clements gets a box score at every timeout.

8:52: KJ shot a 3 for the lead, but looked to hurry again and missed everything. Patterson shot against KJ, missed, shot the rebound, missed and put his third shot in. Hard to excuse that and Huggins calls a timeout.

8:53: Truck’s mystery ride continues. Let’s just say he spends a lot of time in the paint, be it on layups or fruitless drives. He hasn’t tried a 2-point shot tonight.

8:55: Browne has crashed a bunch tonight and he looks affected by it all. A few WVU guys look really weary. Asking alot to play catchup for 20 minutes in game with this much intensity.

8:56: Browne makes two free throws, Zanna bumps into Truck and scores, Kilicli forces a shot inside and doesn’t get a whistle, Gibbs cuts for a score and it’s 63-56. WVU calls a timeout and people from the very bototm of the gym are leaving, including a few who stop to hug Clements. I’m sure he appreciates the show of faith.

9:04: Oof. KJ 1-for-2 at the line, Robinson loses the ball on the baseline, flicks it back into play and Taylor somehow gets it and scores. Browne grabs an offensive rebound in space in scores and Robinson goes 1-for-2 at the line to make it 66-61 with 1:29 remaining.

9:07: Pitt’s played better the final 30 minutes, but not by a large margin in the second half. All the bounces in that same time seem to have gone for the Panthers, including there when Browne did what he does and stole a rebound on the missed Hinds free throw, but saw Pitt end up with it. Woodall hids a stop-jumper off theflass to make it 68-62 with 55 ticks to go.

9:10: That was Truck’s first 2-point attempt of the night. It won’t count because he was fouled, but that was literally the first time he tried something inside the arch. He makes two free throws and WVU needs to foul the right guy here.

9:11: Patterson is a 71.7 percent shooter at the line and makes both for a 70-64 lead with 34.5 seconds left.

9:13: The Mountaineers are going to need something marginally miraculous to pull this one out. If not, it’s the first three-game losing streak since Gansey, Beilein, Pittsnogle, Herber, Durisseau-Collins, Young & Co. lost three straight twice in the 2005-06 season. This will be a fourth straight loss to Pitt and the second in the past 13 games. WVU is 3-10 in those 13 games.

9:16: Again, a lot to ask WVU to play catchup against a desperate and energetic and confident rival for the entire secondhalf of the third game in six days. Final: 72-66.

10:03: Kevin Noreen broke his ankle tonight. WVU’s frontcourt takes a big hit.