MORGANTOWN - To say the atmosphere in the Coliseum on Wednesday was charged would be an understatement.

Let's just say it was a blessing smoking wasn't allowed in the arena.

A lit match might have blown the top off the joint.

The two rivals in the Backyard Brawl were present: Pitt and WVU. A jacked crowd of 15,419 - third largest in Coliseum history - was present. And on this night, the powder keg almost blew.

Thankfully, for all involved, the action was limited to heated fireworks.

One, however, could have called in Clint Eastwood, Lee Van Cleef and Eli Wallach during West Virginia's impressive 70-51 Big East victory over Pittsburgh. Because WVU fans watching saw the Good, the Bad and the Ugly.

Early, the home fans saw the Good.

WVU's "Turk,'' Deniz Kilicli, came off his unjustly long suspension to the roar of the crowd. The camera person hooked to the scoreboard first picked up his insertion into the game during a timeout and beamed it to the crowd. Then, while his team peeled away, back to the bench, he was still on the court, slapping hands with Da'Sean Butler, ready to play.

On the Mountaineers' first possession out of the timeout, Kilicli took an entry pass and cut loose of a left-handed hook shot. It rolled around the rim and in, much to the delight of the fans.

On WVU's next trip downcourt, he positioned himself on the other side of the court - and performed the exact same trick. He followed that with a tip-in of a Devin Ebanks miss.

When a timeout was called, he was mobbed, first by Cam Thoroughman, then the rest of the WVU team. He'd scored six points in 2:10. The students chanted "Turkey, Turkey.'' They chanted "Istanbul.''

"I'm glad Turk was back,'' said WVU point guard Truck Bryant. "He draws a lot of attention and opens shots for us. He does that every day in practice. He scores on everyone.''

"Deniz was a great part of our team today,'' said WVU forward Kevin Jones. "He brought a lot of energy and the fans were really excited to see him - and he produced very well.''

And the left-handed hook?

"He does that all the time,'' said Butler. "I love it. He can go both ways. He's talented and strong.''

At game's end, Kilicli galloped into the lane and, again left-handed, completed his team's scoring with another roller ball.

"Honestly, I thought he could score,'' said WVU coach Bob Huggins. "The kid can score the ball. And the thing is, he could get 10, 11 rebounds. He has great hands. Then he showed off his ball skills at the end of the game.''

Huggins smiled. But he wasn't smiling during two moments during the game.

There was the Bad.

Let's just say it was a blessing smoking wasn't allowed in the arena.

A lit match might have blown the top off the joint.

The two rivals in the Backyard Brawl were present: Pitt and WVU. A jacked crowd of 15,419 - third largest in Coliseum history - was present. And on this night, the powder keg almost blew.

Thankfully, for all involved, the action was limited to heated fireworks.

One, however, could have called in Clint Eastwood, Lee Van Cleef and Eli Wallach during West Virginia's impressive 70-51 Big East victory over Pittsburgh. Because WVU fans watching saw the Good, the Bad and the Ugly.

Early, the home fans saw the Good.

WVU's "Turk,'' Deniz Kilicli, came off his unjustly long suspension to the roar of the crowd. The camera person hooked to the scoreboard first picked up his insertion into the game during a timeout and beamed it to the crowd. Then, while his team peeled away, back to the bench, he was still on the court, slapping hands with Da'Sean Butler, ready to play.

On the Mountaineers' first possession out of the timeout, Kilicli took an entry pass and cut loose of a left-handed hook shot. It rolled around the rim and in, much to the delight of the fans.

On WVU's next trip downcourt, he positioned himself on the other side of the court - and performed the exact same trick. He followed that with a tip-in of a Devin Ebanks miss.

When a timeout was called, he was mobbed, first by Cam Thoroughman, then the rest of the WVU team. He'd scored six points in 2:10. The students chanted "Turkey, Turkey.'' They chanted "Istanbul.''

"I'm glad Turk was back,'' said WVU point guard Truck Bryant. "He draws a lot of attention and opens shots for us. He does that every day in practice. He scores on everyone.''

"Deniz was a great part of our team today,'' said WVU forward Kevin Jones. "He brought a lot of energy and the fans were really excited to see him - and he produced very well.''

And the left-handed hook?

"He does that all the time,'' said Butler. "I love it. He can go both ways. He's talented and strong.''

At game's end, Kilicli galloped into the lane and, again left-handed, completed his team's scoring with another roller ball.

"Honestly, I thought he could score,'' said WVU coach Bob Huggins. "The kid can score the ball. And the thing is, he could get 10, 11 rebounds. He has great hands. Then he showed off his ball skills at the end of the game.''

Huggins smiled. But he wasn't smiling during two moments during the game.

There was the Bad.

After Bryant was called for a travel (it should have been a charge), the crowd roared its disapproval and debris started hitting the court. The coach was asked to address the crowd.

"Hey,'' he told it, "don't throw anything on the floor. You could hurt someone. You could hurt one of the players. That's stupid. If you see someone throw something on the floor point them out. Throw 'em out.''

Then there was the Ugly.

An altercation between the players broke out that could have been nasty, but was quickly defused. The teams were sent to their benches and the officials headed to the replay monitor. They were met, however, by Pitt assistant Brandon Knight, who was livid and had to be restrained by head coach Jamie Dixon.

What Knight was livid about, however, was justified. Panther associate coach Tom Herrion had been hit in the cheek by a coin thrown from the crowd.

The officials called offsetting technicals on the scuffling players, WVU's Ebanks and Pitt's Nasir Robinson, gave the Panthers technical free throws because of the crowd and the Mountaineers a pair of free throws because of a Gary McGhee foul.

"We're not going to make a big deal out of it,'' Pitt's Dixon said afterward. "[Herrion is] OK. Neither teams' players did anything. It was just wrestling.

"It was an unfortunate incident, but I don't want one person to reflect on an entire university... Our guy's OK.''

It was magnanimous of Dixon. For West Virginia, it was another black eye.

"Stupid,'' Huggins said. "They wouldn't want both teams standing above them throwing projectiles at them. Stupid.

"I want [the students] to have fun and enjoy themselves. They are future season ticket holders. But I don't want them jeopardizing someone's safety.''

"It's annoying,'' Butler said. "It shows people outside our state that we don't have class. That's not what we're about as a team or a state. It gives us a bad name.

"Thank goodness our coach kept his head. Some of these people are graduating from college - and acting like that.''

It was embarrassing for WVU's fans. There was their team, kicking tail in the Backyard Brawl, rolling up its 18th win in 21 outings - over a 16-win Panther team.

And guess what will be discussed on Thursday in the Steel City.

Let's just hope the Bad and the Ugly doesn't overshadow the Good for WVU's team.

Reach Mitch Vingle at 304-348-4827, mitchvin...@wvgazette.com or follow him at http://twitter.com/MitchVingle.