Post by elp525 on Feb 21, 2011 10:01:18 GMT -5
Monday February 21, 2011
by Mike Casazza
Charleston Daily Mail
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. -- West Virginia's first half Saturday was almost a formality before the finish.
The Mountaineers didn't shoot very well, which was to be expected given recent struggles, but still played well enough and hard enough to be in the game against No. 8 Notre Dame. That, too, was to be expected with the game being played at the Coliseum, but it was also, at the very least, encouraging considering how timid they felt they had played in the second half of a loss to at Syracuse five days earlier.
"I told them at halftime that I didn't know if we could play any harder than what we played in the first half," West Virginia Coach Bob Huggins said. "I thought we played real, real hard. I just didn't think we could play any worse offensively than how we played."
WVU was only 8-for-28 in the first half and it's in those second halves where the Mountaineers have found trouble. Outscored after halftime in five straight games and 10 out of 13 in the Big East and oftentimes guilty of playing out of character and out of control, WVU instead insisted on playing its way and rumbled to a 72-58 victory.
"We've been paying attention to the last couple games and we've laid down in the second half the last couple games," said WVU forward Kevin Jones, who had his fifth double-double of the season. "We didn't want to do that again. We made it our focus to keep up the intensity in the second half."
The Mountaineers improved to 3-4 against ranked teams and beat a second top-10 team at home in the same season for the first time since 2006.
Notre Dame had won seven in a row while WVU had lost four consecutive games against ranked opponents.
Nevertheless, the Mountaineers entered confident they could handle the Irish.
"From the film we watched of Notre Dame, we didn't think too many teams challenged them as much toughness-wise and really got after them," WVU point guard Joe Mazzulla said. "I thought we really did that and continued to do that and I think at some point they thought were going to lay it down and we didn't. It definitely helped us and it kept us in our comfort zone while we were able to take them out of theirs."
It wasn't a rout. WVU was outscored in the paint, 24-20, and outrebounded 39-38. The Mountaineers allowed 16 offensive rebounds as Notre Dame finished with a 19-11 scoring edge on second points. They really didn't control the Irish in any area before the game very nearly got out of control.
The Mountaineers (17-9, 8-6 Big East) took a 10-point lead six minutes into the second half, but saw Notre Dame (21-5, 10-4) quickly cut it in half. The lead was restored at 10 and the teams went back and forth a bit and WVU was reminded of some lulls that have defined recent wins and losses.
Then Mazzulla was smacked as he attempted and missed a layup and there was no foul called. WVU's Deniz Kilicli and Notre Dame's Jack Cooley were entangled along the baseline and fell to the floor and there was still no whistle.
Huggins could take no more and "kind of expressed that, maybe too vehemently," to get a technical foul. The Coliseum roared and the players huddled as Notre Dame made two free throws to make it a 50-42 game.
"You can't do anything but laugh," Mountaineers guard Truck Bryant said. "Coach is always in the game and he wants the game called what he thinks is the right way. That technical did bring us together and we went back out as a team and tried to keep the lead."
The Mountaineers then escaped themselves and their past and scored the next seven points to build the game's largest lead. Included in that sequence was a technical foul against Notre Dame Coach Mike Brey, who argued a blocking call when he thought Mazzulla was guilty of a charge.
As Bryant made the two free throws, his teammates thumped their chests and waved their arms to ask the crowd for noise. The game was played at a noticeably more intense and physical level, but the Mountaineers never led by fewer than 10 points in the final 8:23.
There was no prolonged lapse. There was no rally by the opponent. There weren't even any turnovers by the Mountaineers. They simply controlled the game the rest of the way.
"I thought we played with a whole lot more enthusiasm after that," Huggins said. "I thought we played with a great deal of enthusiasm throughout the whole game, though. That was probably as hard as we've played since the Purdue game for a full 40 minutes. And I think everyone we put in played really hard."
That Purdue game, the season's other win at home against a top-10 team, was Jan. 16. It's not like WVU stopped making that kind of effort a goal, but it's not something they've done as well or as often enough as they would like, either.
Yet with three losses in six games and Notre Dame being the first of four ranked opponents in the final five games, WVU picked a pretty good time to believe in itself again.
"Joe and I, we knew we could get by any of their guards at any time," Bryant said.
He and Mazzulla combined for 40 points and Bryant had 20 of his season-high 24 in the second half, where he made four 3-pointers. WVU made 13 of its first 16 shots in the second half and shot 53.8 percent. It helped across the floor, too. Notre Dame was 10-for-29 after halftime and shot 35 percent, its second lowest total of the season.
"We didn't shoot 25 percent in the second half, we didn't get outrebounded by 10 in the second half, we didn't let the opponent shoot 60 percent in the second half," Mazzulla said, reciting some of his team's recent woes. "If you do all those things and play a compete game, you should be able to sustain your strengths."
by Mike Casazza
Charleston Daily Mail
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. -- West Virginia's first half Saturday was almost a formality before the finish.
The Mountaineers didn't shoot very well, which was to be expected given recent struggles, but still played well enough and hard enough to be in the game against No. 8 Notre Dame. That, too, was to be expected with the game being played at the Coliseum, but it was also, at the very least, encouraging considering how timid they felt they had played in the second half of a loss to at Syracuse five days earlier.
"I told them at halftime that I didn't know if we could play any harder than what we played in the first half," West Virginia Coach Bob Huggins said. "I thought we played real, real hard. I just didn't think we could play any worse offensively than how we played."
WVU was only 8-for-28 in the first half and it's in those second halves where the Mountaineers have found trouble. Outscored after halftime in five straight games and 10 out of 13 in the Big East and oftentimes guilty of playing out of character and out of control, WVU instead insisted on playing its way and rumbled to a 72-58 victory.
"We've been paying attention to the last couple games and we've laid down in the second half the last couple games," said WVU forward Kevin Jones, who had his fifth double-double of the season. "We didn't want to do that again. We made it our focus to keep up the intensity in the second half."
The Mountaineers improved to 3-4 against ranked teams and beat a second top-10 team at home in the same season for the first time since 2006.
Notre Dame had won seven in a row while WVU had lost four consecutive games against ranked opponents.
Nevertheless, the Mountaineers entered confident they could handle the Irish.
"From the film we watched of Notre Dame, we didn't think too many teams challenged them as much toughness-wise and really got after them," WVU point guard Joe Mazzulla said. "I thought we really did that and continued to do that and I think at some point they thought were going to lay it down and we didn't. It definitely helped us and it kept us in our comfort zone while we were able to take them out of theirs."
It wasn't a rout. WVU was outscored in the paint, 24-20, and outrebounded 39-38. The Mountaineers allowed 16 offensive rebounds as Notre Dame finished with a 19-11 scoring edge on second points. They really didn't control the Irish in any area before the game very nearly got out of control.
The Mountaineers (17-9, 8-6 Big East) took a 10-point lead six minutes into the second half, but saw Notre Dame (21-5, 10-4) quickly cut it in half. The lead was restored at 10 and the teams went back and forth a bit and WVU was reminded of some lulls that have defined recent wins and losses.
Then Mazzulla was smacked as he attempted and missed a layup and there was no foul called. WVU's Deniz Kilicli and Notre Dame's Jack Cooley were entangled along the baseline and fell to the floor and there was still no whistle.
Huggins could take no more and "kind of expressed that, maybe too vehemently," to get a technical foul. The Coliseum roared and the players huddled as Notre Dame made two free throws to make it a 50-42 game.
"You can't do anything but laugh," Mountaineers guard Truck Bryant said. "Coach is always in the game and he wants the game called what he thinks is the right way. That technical did bring us together and we went back out as a team and tried to keep the lead."
The Mountaineers then escaped themselves and their past and scored the next seven points to build the game's largest lead. Included in that sequence was a technical foul against Notre Dame Coach Mike Brey, who argued a blocking call when he thought Mazzulla was guilty of a charge.
As Bryant made the two free throws, his teammates thumped their chests and waved their arms to ask the crowd for noise. The game was played at a noticeably more intense and physical level, but the Mountaineers never led by fewer than 10 points in the final 8:23.
There was no prolonged lapse. There was no rally by the opponent. There weren't even any turnovers by the Mountaineers. They simply controlled the game the rest of the way.
"I thought we played with a whole lot more enthusiasm after that," Huggins said. "I thought we played with a great deal of enthusiasm throughout the whole game, though. That was probably as hard as we've played since the Purdue game for a full 40 minutes. And I think everyone we put in played really hard."
That Purdue game, the season's other win at home against a top-10 team, was Jan. 16. It's not like WVU stopped making that kind of effort a goal, but it's not something they've done as well or as often enough as they would like, either.
Yet with three losses in six games and Notre Dame being the first of four ranked opponents in the final five games, WVU picked a pretty good time to believe in itself again.
"Joe and I, we knew we could get by any of their guards at any time," Bryant said.
He and Mazzulla combined for 40 points and Bryant had 20 of his season-high 24 in the second half, where he made four 3-pointers. WVU made 13 of its first 16 shots in the second half and shot 53.8 percent. It helped across the floor, too. Notre Dame was 10-for-29 after halftime and shot 35 percent, its second lowest total of the season.
"We didn't shoot 25 percent in the second half, we didn't get outrebounded by 10 in the second half, we didn't let the opponent shoot 60 percent in the second half," Mazzulla said, reciting some of his team's recent woes. "If you do all those things and play a compete game, you should be able to sustain your strengths."
