Post by cviller on Jan 15, 2009 10:55:40 GMT -5
By From staff reports
CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- West Virginia University's Alex Ruoff had a lot to say about his teammates following Saturday's loss at Marquette and followed that by declining interview requests Tuesday.
He lets his actions speak loud and clear against Marshall Wednesday night. WVU's senior guard had 15 points, five assists, two steals and no turnovers in 37 minutes of WVU's 87-76 Capital Classic win at the Civic Center.
"One thing I always want to do is come out and lead by example and play as hard as I can," he said. "Some of the things I said after the Marquette game was in-house stuff and I really shouldn't have broadcast that. A couple of guys read that and it really hit home, but that's something that needs to stay inside from now on."
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RUOFF ALSO revealed after the Marquette game his "hate" for the Capital Classic because he felt his side had nothing to gain and everything to lose. He addressed that afterward, as well.
"I love this atmosphere," he said. "I don't like it when it gets out of control like it did a little (Wednesday) and the fans get out of it. Last year's game, when the fans were all into it, you can't replace that atmosphere. I love that portion of it.
"But obviously, I don't like losing. That doesn't sit right with me. The young guys don't know how important it is for the (NCAA) tournament. That's why I don't like it."
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THE MARSHALL-WVU confrontation actually began before the opening tip. As the Thundering Herd ran onto the Civic Center floor, Marco the mascot bumped into Da'Sean Butler and the two exchanged quick looks.
"He came out of nowhere and caught me off guard," Butler said. "I thought it was one of my teammates. Then I looked and saw this buffalo. I was like, 'Um, wow.'"
Everyone laughed and the situation did not escalate.
"He didn't come back," Butler said. "That was the main thing we talked about."
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PLAYERS GET tired, but how about officials?
It's a question often asked, with most of the nation's top officials working as many as five or six games per week. The trio that turned the Capital Classic into a walk between free throw lines is an example.
Referee Curtis Shaw worked his sixth game in seven days and fifth day in a row Wednesday night at the Civic Center. He worked Arkansas State-Denver last Thursday, took Friday off, did USF-DePaul on Saturday, followed by Weber State-Drake, Texas-Oklahoma and then Memphis-Tulsa on Tuesday.
Tony Greene, starting Wednesday a week ago, whistled seven games in eight days. He called Cincinnati-Providence, Furman-Sanford, Kennesaw State-North Florida, Ole Miss-Florida, LSU-Alabama, was off Monday, then did Kentucky-Tennessee and Marshall-WVU.
As for John Higgins, he was the most rested of the Capital Classic crew.
He had worked six days in a row - ending with Marshall's loss at Memphis - then was off last Thursday and Friday, called Iowa State-Texas on Saturday, was off another two days and then had Kansas State-Kansas on Tuesday night before flying Wednesday to Charleston.
Should somebody call a foul on this?
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THE WEST Virginia win in the Capital Classic was the 628th victory in Coach Bob Huggins' 27 seasons, leaving him only two behind Marshall legend Cam Henderson for 27th on the all-time major college coaching wins list (minimum of 10 seasons in Division I).
Henderson had 362 of his 630 career wins on the Thundering Herd bench from 1935-55. He also coached at Muskingum (Ohio), Salem and Davis & Elkins. Next ahead of Henderson is former Florida State, Georgia and Jacksonville coach Hugh Durham, at 635 wins.
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BOB PRUETT, the winningest football coach in Marshall history, attended the Capital Classic.
He even had a front-row seat.
Pruett, a Beckley native who now is the defensive coordinator at Virginia, retired in 2005 after nine seasons at his alma mater. He had a 94-23 record with the Thundering Herd.
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AS EXPECTED, Marshall sophomore center Marcus Goode dressed but didn't play.
Goode had surgery to repair a torn meniscus in his left knee on Jan. 5. He averaged 4.6 points and 3.1 rebounds in 8.2 minutes per game in 11 appearances before his injury.
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A SHOT clock malfunction delayed the start of the second half by 12 minutes.
Both teams warmed up on the other basket while employees from both schools and the arena tried to fix the problem, which they were unable to do. So, the teams played the second half without shot clocks on either basket. Instead, the shot clock was kept at the scorer's table and teams were notified at certain intervals (i.e. 20 seconds, 10 seconds, five seconds).
The Thundering Herd student section borrowed a chant from "The Bad News Bears In Breaking Training."
"Let them play," the Marshall Maniacs cheered. "Let them play."
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WVU SNAPPED a two-year losing streak to Marshall in the annual cheerleader strength competition.
Each male cheerleader holds up a female cheerleader as long as he can until only one is left standing. The competition came down to one from each side, but the Mountaineers lasted longest.
