Game 17: West Virginia
Jan. 9, 2009 4:33 p.m.
It's been a few years -- almost five, in fact -- since Bob Huggins has coached a game at the Bradley Center.
Back then, of course, he was heading up the Cincinnati Bearcats. Now he's in his second season at the helm of the 25th-ranked West Virginia Mountaineers (11-3, 1-1 Big East), who arrive to face MU at 11 Saturday morning.
The Mountaineers, who had a five-game winning streak snapped on Tuesday at home by Connecticut, beat the Golden Eagles in the teams' only meeting last season, 79-64, last Jan. 6.
This team is quite a bit different than that one, however, since explosive wing Joe Alexander is now playing for the Milwaukee Bucks and steady point guard Darris Nichols has since graduated.
Even still, the Mountaineers have plenty of talent, led by guard Alex Ruoff (team-leading 16.8 ppg and 37 threes) and wing Da'Sean Butler (15.6 ppg, 6.1 rpg). The 6-foot-7 Butler, in particular, could cause some problems because of his ability to play both inside and outside.
Freshman point guard Darryl "Truck" Bryant chips in with 11.1 points, and should present an interesting matchup for either Dominic James or Jerel McNeal with his stocky build and penchant for attacking the rim. Another athletic wing, freshman Devin Ebanks, leads West Virginia in rebounding at 6.4 per game.
Ruoff, Butler and Bryant combined to go just 12 for 40 against UConn.
Huggins also has a number of similar-sized athletes in Wellington Smith, John Flowers and Kevin Jones he can throw out onto the court as well. But with Joe Mazzulla still nursing a shoulder injury, MU figures to have a distinct advantage on the perimeter.
The Mountaineers' other losses are to Kentucky and Davidson. And, in true Huggins fashion, they do the dirty work well, holding opponents to just 39.6% shooting, limiting them to just 56.6 points per game and out-rebounding them by more than eight boards per outing.
Opponents are also hitting just 26.6% of their threes.
On the flip side, they're a poor free-throw shooting team at just 63.8%, and don't shoot it from the floor especially well either at 43.6%.
"Extremely competitive, they compete hard on both ends of the floor, limit their turnovers," said MU coach Buzz Williams. "They don't take bad shots, they chase after every rebound like it's the last rebound there is, and that's why they've had the success that they've had wherever Coach Huggins has been.
"They compete in the right way, they're fundamentally sound and they really guard you."
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