In his first season at the helm, West Virginia interim head men's basketball coach Josh Eilert is ready to take on Pittsburgh in the Backyard Brawl on Wednesday at 9 p.m. in the WVU Coliseum. All the way from his coaching staff to the players, he knows they understand what the rivalry means.

"I'm excited about the 119th Backyard Brawl and excited to be a part of it and I know how much it means to our people in West Virginia and we’re going to go out there and compete," Eilert said.

This rivalry's storied history goes just as far if not further than its equivalent in football, spanning 120 seasons starting in 1904, a 15-12 final that sparked a generational rivalry.

The Mountaineers also hold a 103-88 all-time record and they've continued to be dominant in the series as of late, winning the last six contests that including a decisive 81-56 win over the Panthers in Pittsburgh last season.

Eilert, a 16-year member of the WVU men's hoops staff, has witnessed the rivalry over and over again but one gauntlet of a matchup especially stuck out to him, this being the 2010 triple overtime defeat on the road.

"The one that just sticks out vividly to me is that three-overtime game up there," Eilert said. "That was an instant classic and we came up on the wrong end of that one but it was just such a battle. Almost every Pitt, West Virginia game is a battle."

Diving into last year's game where Eilert was a member of the staff, the Mountaineers dominated in the second half to get a convincing win with an efficient shooting performance.

Although, with West Virginia's current matchup against the Panthers nearby, Eilert may be experienced with the ins and outs of the rivalry but he's experiencing this unique situation for the first time, as head coach.

However, the first-year interim doesn't expect much carryover from what his team put on film last season and that their offensive execution is much different from WVU's previous opponent on Friday, Dec. 1, St. John's.

"They’re not the type of team that’s going to pound it down low. They don’t have that type of structure," Eilert said.

However, this excludes Pittsburgh's star forward Blake Hinson, who Eilert sees as a matchup nightmare.

"I didn’t look back to a lot of what they did last year, I didn’t look at that film. I remember it pretty vividly that they zoned us quite a bit and I thought we did a pretty good job of handling it," Eilert said.

Eilert continued, "The biggest carryover is [Blake] Hinson, he’s a matchup problem for pretty much almost any team he’ll go against. His size and strength and the ability to shoot the ball and how easy he can get it off regardless of who it is in front of him. He’s a big matchup problem for anybody including us."

Much like the interim head coach, freshman forward Ofri Naveh is a first-year player from Israel who has a newborn relationship with the Backyard Brawl. He knows just how important this game will be for everyone involved.

"I know about how important it is and I know it's a very competitive ball and everyone wants to win but it can be sometimes chippy," Naveh said.

An easy comparison for Naveh is from his home country is soccer, and the competition and emotion behind playing rivals in that sport compared to this Backyard Brawl.

"Well it's not like football, but it's still very important to our people and our clubs because it's about our pride, we won't lose to them and it had been going on for years. I really like the competition," Naveh said.

Naveh and all of his teammates were able to attend West Virginia's football 17-6 win over Pittsburgh at home in Morgantown on Sept. 16 and become educated on the rivalry, leading to some positive experiences for both Eilert and his players alike.

"It was unbelievable. The whole stadium was singing songs and that was an unbelievable experience," Naveh said. "I know it's a big rivalry."

This also translated to Eilert's preparation for the rivalry game and how his players are getting locked in with the rivalry coming up next on his team's schedule.

"When you put Pitt up on the board, you could see everybody sitting up in their chair and they were at full attention," Eilert said. "I made sure each and every one of those guys were at the Pitt football game in the fall."

The newest edition of the Backyard Brawl comes to Morgantown once again, this time for the men's hoops squad and Eilert said that steps are being taken to make sure this rivalry is extended for the future.

"It’s a really good rivalry to continue on regardless especially from a business perspective. How could you not think that’s good for both programs? The conversations are being had between them and I fully anticipate them coming to an agreement and extending this," Eilert said. "It’s not on paper by any means but those conversations are being had. It’s been a great six-game contract."

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