MORGANTOWN, W.Va. -- Seven seconds into the second half of yesterday's game against West Virginia, Sam Young picked up his third foul. Pitt coach Jamie Dixon pulled Young from the game, and his star player moped as he slowly walked off the floor.

What transpired in the next few minutes would ultimately decide the outcome of the 176th edition of the Backyard Brawl between Pitt and West Virginia.

"I just wanted to let him know we had plenty of time and that he was going to be back in there," Dixon said. "I didn't know where his emotions were at that point. Players get frustrated when they can't play. He handled it pretty well."

"Pretty well" would be an understatement. Dixon inserted Young back into the game four minutes later, and Pitt's senior forward scored 16 of his 22 points in the final 15 minutes to lead the Panthers to a 79-67 victory at the WVU Coliseum.

No. 4 Pitt (18-1, 6-1) won for the second consecutive game after losing for the first time nine days ago at Louisville. West Virginia, fresh off a 17-point victory at No. 14 Georgetown, had its three-game winning streak snapped.

The Panthers sliced and diced the Big East's best defense from beginning to end. West Virginia entered the contest allowing just 58.9 points per game, but the Panthers scored more against the Mountaineers than any other team this season. They shot 54 percent from the field and did most of their damage by scoring close to the basket.

Young, who shot 15 for 49 from the field in a three-game stretch earlier this month, couldn't be stopped in the second half. He was driving past West Virginia defenders and either dunked or got fouled. When he wasn't driving he was making turn-around jumpers from the baseline.

"I feel like in a couple of games in the past I took way too many 3s," Young said. "It was uncharacteristic of me to take too many 3s. I'm not Stephen Curry or anyone like that, so I shouldn't be taking that many 3s. I feel like I have too many dimensions to my game to be relying on the 3 that much. I wanted to go to the basket and get fouled or get some big dunks."

West Virginia (14-5, 3-3) tried guarding Young with a variety of players, but nothing seemed to work. Young was 9 for 14 from the field and did all of his damage in 25 minutes of action.

"He's a great player and he's been doing it for a long time," West Virginia coach Bob Huggins said. "We gave Sam open looks and he made them."

Young had plenty of help from his teammates who picked up the slack when he was on the bench in foul trouble. Sophomore center DeJuan Blair recorded his 13th double-double of the season with 16 points and 11 rebounds. Senior point guard Levance Fields added 13 points and junior Jermaine Dixon scored 11, including three 3-pointers.

Pitt outscored West Virginia, 38-24, in the paint. The Mountaineers had no answers for Blair and Young's strength in the middle.

"They started guarding me over the top, and I was able to seal them off," Blair said. "I was just catching it and finishing."

Pitt led, 49-47, with 14:18 remaining, but the Panthers began to pull away after going on a 14-4 run. Young scored eight of those points to lead the charge.

Dixon made two big 3-pointers a little later to put the game out of reach. With Pitt up by 10, Dixon made a 24-footer from the wing to put the Panthers up, 66-53. A minute and a half later, he put the dagger in the Mountaineers' hearts with another 3-pointer that gave the Panthers a 16-point bulge with 7:10 remaining.

Shortly after that, the home crowd began an exodus into the cold West Virginia night while a few hundred Pitt fans stuck around to enjoy the victory by chanting "Let's Go Pitt."

"This is a real big win," Fields said. "They were coming off a big win at Georgetown, so they were on a high. This is a tough place to play. Last year we came here near the end of the year and we were blown out of the gym. We did a great job of controlling the game."

Pitt was beaten by 14 points at the Coliseum last year and picked up only its second victory in the building since Dixon took over as Pitt's head coach in 2003.

"Everyone knows how tough a place this is to play, how good a team this is and how well-coached they are," Dixon said. "This is a very impressive win for us in a lot of ways. We know how good they are."