Zoo Crew advances in The Basketball Tournament, awaits Best Virginia in Round of 32

Mike Young played in two NCAA Tournaments and scored 1,835 points in four seasons at Pitt. He proudly sits seventh on the school’s all-time scoring list.

Who could ask for anything more from a collegiate basketball career?

Something’s missing, however, and Young plans to fix that Monday night at Petersen Events Center:

He’s never played against a team from West Virginia.

“I’ve been to a few of them in the stands,” said Young, who grew up in Duquesne and played at Pitt from 2013-17. “I just never played in the actual game. I know what it means. Don’t worry about it.”

The Basketball Tournament will give him that opportunity after the Zoo Crew, a nine-man team comprised largely of former Pitt players, defeated Million $ Worth of Game, 98-95, in a thrilling finish Saturday night at the Pete.

Conference realignment, with Pitt going to the ACC and West Virginia to the Big 12, ended the basketball version of the Backyard Brawl for four seasons, matching Young’s time with the Panthers. Before the 2023-24 season, Pitt hadn’t defeated WVU since 2012.

But TBT, a $1 million winner-take-all, 64-team, national event, will match The Zoo Crew against Best Virginia, a team comprised mainly of former Mountaineers, at 8 p.m. Monday at the Pete in the Round of 32. Best Virginia defeated the Brotherly Love Pro Am Foundation, 94-69, earlier in the day at the Pete.

“More than excited,” said Young, who led five Zoo Crew players in double-digit scoring with 24 points. “I don’t even think that’s a good word. Something bigger than that.”

Zoo Crew coach Gilbert Brown, who is Pitt’s current director of player and alumni development, knows a little about the rivalry. He led a dramatic 71-66 victory at WVU in 2011, scoring seven points in the last four minutes.

“I have no doubt in my mind that these guys are going to come ready,” he said. “If I say something to them, they already know it. I think everybody in Pittsburgh and West Virginia knows what those games mean to us.”

Brown was happy to see his players come together so quickly, especially on offense while shooting 59.4% from the field and hitting 14 of 32 3-point shots.

“To see us actually got out there and play on offense like we did, it’s a great feeling to come out with the victory,” Brown said.

Good defense, he said, is the most difficult aspect of the game to master in which players are together for only a short time. The Zoo Crew allowed its opponent to shoot 56.7% from the field.

“Pretty much everything was on the fly,” Young said.

“That’s something that we have to go through and work on,” Brown said. “Watch the film and see where we were effective and where we should be effective in this next game against Best Virginia.”

The Zoo Crew led throughout the first 32 minutes of the game, which was comprised of four quarters of nine minutes each. Its lead was as large as 15 points late in the second quarter.

But Million $ Worth of Game fought back behind 34 points from Eli Cain, who played at DePaul. The Zoo Crew’s lead was only 90-88, with 3 minutes, 57 seconds left in the fourth quarter when the TBT’s end-of-the-game format kicked in and the public address announcer proclaimed that the first team to reach 98 would be the winner.

Brown said he likes the format, especially for close games. “Every time, there’s a (potential) game-winning shot,” he said.

Million $ Worth of Game led twice in those final untimed moments, but Nike Sibande and Young hit 2s, Jamel Artis converted a 3-pointer and Ryan Luther blocked a shot to set up the decisive point — a foul shot by Artis.

All five starters scored in double figures for the Zoo Crew, including Young, Sibande (21), Artis (15), Shippensburg and Montour product Dustin Sleva (12) and Nelly Cummings (10).

Young, who hit 11 of 16 shots, said he was so eager for the game to begin that he couldn’t take his normal game-day nap or eat after breakfast Saturday.

”My nerves were going,” he said. “Being back here, got my family at the game. They hadn’t seen me play live since I’ve been here.”