Post by elp525 on Feb 27, 2011 12:13:19 GMT -5
February 26, 2011
By Dave Hickman
The Charleston Gazette
PISCATAWAY, N.J. - West Virginia is 2-4 over its last six games and 5-6 over its last 11. But while each of those losses was disappointing in some way, none were the type that can ruin a season or, for that matter, even derail things all that much.
Take the latest of the losses, Thursday's 71-58 setback at No. 4 Pitt. Even though it kept the Mountaineers in the lower half of the airtight Big East standings, it was far from devastating.
"No, it's not a killer,'' said West Virginia senior Cam Thoroughman. "Losing to the No. 1 team in the conference on the road isn't a killer.''
Considering the strength of the Big East, losing to just about any team in the conference is not a bad loss. Winning some, though, is simply expected of teams contending for spots in the NCAA tournament.
Today, West Virginia plays one of those.
The Mountaineers (17-10, 8-7 Big East) face Rutgers (13-14, 4-11) at noon today at the Louis Brown Athletic Center, formerly called the Rutgers Athletic Center and still known as The RAC. The game will be televised by the Big East Network, locally on WCHS.
It is the last of six games West Virginia plays this season against the five teams clustered at the bottom of the league standings and out of contention for NCAA berths. The Mountaineers are 5-0 in those games so far and desperately need to make it 6-0 today.
Losing at Pitt? No big deal, even expected.
Losing at Rutgers?
"No, a killer would be Sunday if we went out and lost. That's our biggest game,'' senior guard Joe Mazzulla said. "If Pitt plays hard, Rutgers plays that much harder. We need to realize that's the biggest game of our season to this point.''
Well, West Virginia could still afford a loss to the Scarlet Knights today and come out of things OK if they go on to win their final two home games later this week against Connecticut and Louisville. Wins against those two ranked teams would likely push the Mountaineers into the top half of the league standings and would almost certainly boost their resume to an NCAA-certain level.
But if for nothing else but a confidence boost heading into those games, West Virginia needs to win today.
"We have to turn it around and get another road win and then come home and finish strong,'' Thoroughman said. "We're still where we want to be in the sense that we can do something about it.''
Rutgers, though, is no pushover. Yes, the Knights have lost seven of their last eight, but the win was 77-76 at home over then-No. 9 Villanova, and just a week ago Rutgers took No. 17 Syracuse to overtime at the Carrier Dome.
But then on Tuesday Rutgers simply fell apart, shooting less than 30 percent and scoring only 37 points in falling 55-37 at home to Louisville.
Senior forward Jonathan Mitchell leads Rutgers with 14.4 points per game and is the only Knight averaging in double figures. But all four of the other starters are in the nine-point range.
The Mountaineers have won their last five games against Rutgers and has had success at The RAC, where they are 7-3 since both teams joined the Big East. In fact, WVU has won more game there than at any other league venue.
It would behoove the Mountaineers to earn another today.
"I've said for two weeks that we've got to win games,'' said coach Bob Huggins, who is 8-0 all-time against Rutgers (3-0 at West Virginia, 1-0 at Kansas State and 4-0 at Cincinnati). "I don't care where they are or who they're against. We've got to win games.''
Today would be a good time to start.
"We don't have a choice right now,'' Thoroughman said of playing better down the stretch. "We've got to be stronger or we're going to be hurting.''
By Dave Hickman
The Charleston Gazette
PISCATAWAY, N.J. - West Virginia is 2-4 over its last six games and 5-6 over its last 11. But while each of those losses was disappointing in some way, none were the type that can ruin a season or, for that matter, even derail things all that much.
Take the latest of the losses, Thursday's 71-58 setback at No. 4 Pitt. Even though it kept the Mountaineers in the lower half of the airtight Big East standings, it was far from devastating.
"No, it's not a killer,'' said West Virginia senior Cam Thoroughman. "Losing to the No. 1 team in the conference on the road isn't a killer.''
Considering the strength of the Big East, losing to just about any team in the conference is not a bad loss. Winning some, though, is simply expected of teams contending for spots in the NCAA tournament.
Today, West Virginia plays one of those.
The Mountaineers (17-10, 8-7 Big East) face Rutgers (13-14, 4-11) at noon today at the Louis Brown Athletic Center, formerly called the Rutgers Athletic Center and still known as The RAC. The game will be televised by the Big East Network, locally on WCHS.
It is the last of six games West Virginia plays this season against the five teams clustered at the bottom of the league standings and out of contention for NCAA berths. The Mountaineers are 5-0 in those games so far and desperately need to make it 6-0 today.
Losing at Pitt? No big deal, even expected.
Losing at Rutgers?
"No, a killer would be Sunday if we went out and lost. That's our biggest game,'' senior guard Joe Mazzulla said. "If Pitt plays hard, Rutgers plays that much harder. We need to realize that's the biggest game of our season to this point.''
Well, West Virginia could still afford a loss to the Scarlet Knights today and come out of things OK if they go on to win their final two home games later this week against Connecticut and Louisville. Wins against those two ranked teams would likely push the Mountaineers into the top half of the league standings and would almost certainly boost their resume to an NCAA-certain level.
But if for nothing else but a confidence boost heading into those games, West Virginia needs to win today.
"We have to turn it around and get another road win and then come home and finish strong,'' Thoroughman said. "We're still where we want to be in the sense that we can do something about it.''
Rutgers, though, is no pushover. Yes, the Knights have lost seven of their last eight, but the win was 77-76 at home over then-No. 9 Villanova, and just a week ago Rutgers took No. 17 Syracuse to overtime at the Carrier Dome.
But then on Tuesday Rutgers simply fell apart, shooting less than 30 percent and scoring only 37 points in falling 55-37 at home to Louisville.
Senior forward Jonathan Mitchell leads Rutgers with 14.4 points per game and is the only Knight averaging in double figures. But all four of the other starters are in the nine-point range.
The Mountaineers have won their last five games against Rutgers and has had success at The RAC, where they are 7-3 since both teams joined the Big East. In fact, WVU has won more game there than at any other league venue.
It would behoove the Mountaineers to earn another today.
"I've said for two weeks that we've got to win games,'' said coach Bob Huggins, who is 8-0 all-time against Rutgers (3-0 at West Virginia, 1-0 at Kansas State and 4-0 at Cincinnati). "I don't care where they are or who they're against. We've got to win games.''
Today would be a good time to start.
"We don't have a choice right now,'' Thoroughman said of playing better down the stretch. "We've got to be stronger or we're going to be hurting.''
