Post by elp525 on Mar 3, 2011 8:42:54 GMT -5
Thursday March 3, 2011
Mike Casazza
Charleston Daily Mail
MORGANTOWN - West Virginia's basketball team found unique inspiration to beat No. 16 Connecticut on Wednesday night.
"Desperation," WVU Coach Bob Huggins said.
The Mountaineers made a timely switch to a perplexing point-drop zone and threw the Huskies into an extended funk. WVU used the opening to score points and score a 65-56 victory that greatly enhances the probability of getting a one-round bye in the Big East Tournament.
"It seemed like they went down the court 10 straight times and didn't miss," forward Cam Thoroughman said. "They had a couple easy looks, not many, but a couple of those shots, it was like, 'Are you serious?'
"I don't know if the defense got to them or if they got tired, but the shots stopped falling and we got the rebounds and executed on the offensive end. That's how we separated ourselves at the end of the game."
UConn (21-8, 9-8) made four consecutive shots and seven of eight in the middle of the second half and led 47-46 with 10:12 remaining. The Mountaineers switched to their version of the 2-3 zone and watched the Huskies miss 10 straight shots. UConn made only free throws during WVU's 10-4 run and went 4:59 without a point and 7:58 without a basket.
"We had to change the tempo," Huggins said. "We had to figure out a way we could get some stops."
Shabazz Napier ended the spell with a jumper with 2:50 remaining that cut WVU's lead to 56-53, but the Mountaineers scored the next nine points, including a critical second-chance basket by forward Kevin Jones.
"They were getting in the paint too much in the first half and the zone kept them out of the paint and made them shoot more jumpers and not focus on getting the ball inside as much as they usually like to do," Jones said.
"They're a big team that traditionally gets inside and makes things happen there. We put the zone in and tried to hold them to outside shots and it kind of frustrated them, especially when the jump shots weren't going in. That's what we wanted to do to them."
Jones had his seventh double-double of the season and the second in a row, this time with 15 points and 10 rebounds. The Mountaineers posted up John Flowers with 1:45 remaining and Flowers missed, but Jones somehow plucked the rebound from UConn's 6-foot-9, 240-pound Alex Oriakhi and hurried a shot that fell through the hoop for a 58-53 lead.
"I didn't even see the rim on that shot," Jones said. "I was wondering why I didn't just bring it back out, but my instincts just told me to go up with it. I'm glad I did."
The Huskies missed again on the other end and Darryl "Truck" Bryant went 7-for-8 at the foul line to finish the game.
"They won in what I would consider to be Bob Huggins' style," UConn Coach Jim Calhoun said. "They out-toughed us."
Joe Mazzulla matched a career-high with 18 points and added five assists. No one else had more than nine points, but everyone who played made a shot. Flowers finished with seven points, six rebounds, four assists, two blocked shots and two steals.
The Mountaineers (19-10, 10-7) shot 52.6 percent in the second half and outrebounded the Huskies, 36-30. They turned the ball over only nine times and had assists on 17 of 22 baskets. The win pushed them into a tie for sixth in the conference with Georgetown and Cincinnati, which won at Marquette Wednesday night, 67-60.
WVU beat the Hoyas and the Bearcats and holds the tie-breaker over both.
"It's big for getting the bye in the Big East tournament and as far as the NCAA Tournament, it only makes our seed better," Thoroughman said.
The Mountaineers get the bye if Pitt beats Villanova or Seton Hall beats Marquette Saturday, or if they simply beat Louisville at noon inside the Coliseum.
UConn finished with a season-low point total. Guard Kemba Walker scored 22 points, but was 8-for-23. Napier added 18 points. No one else had more than five points for the Huskies. Walker missed six consecutive shots down the stretch and only scored when he hit a 3-pointer with 14 seconds remaining.
"We did a good job early in the game wearing him down," said Mazzulla, who chased Walker around the court in the first half and made it hard for teammates to get the ball to Walker. "We kept contact on him and we used him in the bulk of our offense. We switched screens with him and hit him with screens and on the defensive end made sure we had contact with him at all times."
The Mountaineers scored the first seven points of the game and would lead by as many as nine points in the middle of the first half.
UConn followed a 3-for-11 start by going 8-for-15 the rest of the half and actually took a 26-25 lead when Napier turned a WVU turnover into a layup with 44 seconds to go.
Mazzulla, though, ended the half with his second 3-pointer.
WVU led by no more than four points in the second half until Deniz Kilicli scored inside to make it 56-51 with 3:50 remaining. The game was tied six times before that and the lead changed eight times, including on five straight possessions. The Huskies, even with their hot shooting, could never get up by more than a point.
"A few times this year our offense was so poor we could never answer runs and we were never able to go back and forth," Mazzulla said. "When they hit all their shots, we did a good job staying patient and either knocking down open shots or getting easy baskets inside."
The defense then took over. The Huskies had 10 points in the paint in the first half - all on layups or easy shots right at the rim - but just four in the second half. One was a layup by Walker and the other was a jump shot by Napier with 13:24 to go. Those were their final points in the paint.
"We did a much better job guarding their ball screens and guarding their penetration," Huggins said. "The biggest thing that happened is they had to run a lot of clock to get a good shot. They were coming down and getting pretty good shots early and that's kind of how they like to play. They seemed like they got a little bit out of rhythm."
WVU actually tried the zone in the first half, though with a different lineup, and it only lasted a few possessions. When the Mountaineers used different players, the defense matched up much better with the Huskies.
"They made it easy on us because they brought their bigs out on the perimeter," Mazzulla said. "We were able to have soft close-outs on them and guard the lane and we could switch off the ball because we felt like their bigs weren't going to hit 15-footers out on the perimeter. That made it easier on us."
Mike Casazza
Charleston Daily Mail
MORGANTOWN - West Virginia's basketball team found unique inspiration to beat No. 16 Connecticut on Wednesday night.
"Desperation," WVU Coach Bob Huggins said.
The Mountaineers made a timely switch to a perplexing point-drop zone and threw the Huskies into an extended funk. WVU used the opening to score points and score a 65-56 victory that greatly enhances the probability of getting a one-round bye in the Big East Tournament.
"It seemed like they went down the court 10 straight times and didn't miss," forward Cam Thoroughman said. "They had a couple easy looks, not many, but a couple of those shots, it was like, 'Are you serious?'
"I don't know if the defense got to them or if they got tired, but the shots stopped falling and we got the rebounds and executed on the offensive end. That's how we separated ourselves at the end of the game."
UConn (21-8, 9-8) made four consecutive shots and seven of eight in the middle of the second half and led 47-46 with 10:12 remaining. The Mountaineers switched to their version of the 2-3 zone and watched the Huskies miss 10 straight shots. UConn made only free throws during WVU's 10-4 run and went 4:59 without a point and 7:58 without a basket.
"We had to change the tempo," Huggins said. "We had to figure out a way we could get some stops."
Shabazz Napier ended the spell with a jumper with 2:50 remaining that cut WVU's lead to 56-53, but the Mountaineers scored the next nine points, including a critical second-chance basket by forward Kevin Jones.
"They were getting in the paint too much in the first half and the zone kept them out of the paint and made them shoot more jumpers and not focus on getting the ball inside as much as they usually like to do," Jones said.
"They're a big team that traditionally gets inside and makes things happen there. We put the zone in and tried to hold them to outside shots and it kind of frustrated them, especially when the jump shots weren't going in. That's what we wanted to do to them."
Jones had his seventh double-double of the season and the second in a row, this time with 15 points and 10 rebounds. The Mountaineers posted up John Flowers with 1:45 remaining and Flowers missed, but Jones somehow plucked the rebound from UConn's 6-foot-9, 240-pound Alex Oriakhi and hurried a shot that fell through the hoop for a 58-53 lead.
"I didn't even see the rim on that shot," Jones said. "I was wondering why I didn't just bring it back out, but my instincts just told me to go up with it. I'm glad I did."
The Huskies missed again on the other end and Darryl "Truck" Bryant went 7-for-8 at the foul line to finish the game.
"They won in what I would consider to be Bob Huggins' style," UConn Coach Jim Calhoun said. "They out-toughed us."
Joe Mazzulla matched a career-high with 18 points and added five assists. No one else had more than nine points, but everyone who played made a shot. Flowers finished with seven points, six rebounds, four assists, two blocked shots and two steals.
The Mountaineers (19-10, 10-7) shot 52.6 percent in the second half and outrebounded the Huskies, 36-30. They turned the ball over only nine times and had assists on 17 of 22 baskets. The win pushed them into a tie for sixth in the conference with Georgetown and Cincinnati, which won at Marquette Wednesday night, 67-60.
WVU beat the Hoyas and the Bearcats and holds the tie-breaker over both.
"It's big for getting the bye in the Big East tournament and as far as the NCAA Tournament, it only makes our seed better," Thoroughman said.
The Mountaineers get the bye if Pitt beats Villanova or Seton Hall beats Marquette Saturday, or if they simply beat Louisville at noon inside the Coliseum.
UConn finished with a season-low point total. Guard Kemba Walker scored 22 points, but was 8-for-23. Napier added 18 points. No one else had more than five points for the Huskies. Walker missed six consecutive shots down the stretch and only scored when he hit a 3-pointer with 14 seconds remaining.
"We did a good job early in the game wearing him down," said Mazzulla, who chased Walker around the court in the first half and made it hard for teammates to get the ball to Walker. "We kept contact on him and we used him in the bulk of our offense. We switched screens with him and hit him with screens and on the defensive end made sure we had contact with him at all times."
The Mountaineers scored the first seven points of the game and would lead by as many as nine points in the middle of the first half.
UConn followed a 3-for-11 start by going 8-for-15 the rest of the half and actually took a 26-25 lead when Napier turned a WVU turnover into a layup with 44 seconds to go.
Mazzulla, though, ended the half with his second 3-pointer.
WVU led by no more than four points in the second half until Deniz Kilicli scored inside to make it 56-51 with 3:50 remaining. The game was tied six times before that and the lead changed eight times, including on five straight possessions. The Huskies, even with their hot shooting, could never get up by more than a point.
"A few times this year our offense was so poor we could never answer runs and we were never able to go back and forth," Mazzulla said. "When they hit all their shots, we did a good job staying patient and either knocking down open shots or getting easy baskets inside."
The defense then took over. The Huskies had 10 points in the paint in the first half - all on layups or easy shots right at the rim - but just four in the second half. One was a layup by Walker and the other was a jump shot by Napier with 13:24 to go. Those were their final points in the paint.
"We did a much better job guarding their ball screens and guarding their penetration," Huggins said. "The biggest thing that happened is they had to run a lot of clock to get a good shot. They were coming down and getting pretty good shots early and that's kind of how they like to play. They seemed like they got a little bit out of rhythm."
WVU actually tried the zone in the first half, though with a different lineup, and it only lasted a few possessions. When the Mountaineers used different players, the defense matched up much better with the Huskies.
"They made it easy on us because they brought their bigs out on the perimeter," Mazzulla said. "We were able to have soft close-outs on them and guard the lane and we could switch off the ball because we felt like their bigs weren't going to hit 15-footers out on the perimeter. That made it easier on us."
