Post by elp525 on Mar 5, 2011 7:29:08 GMT -5
March 4, 2011
By Dave Hickman
The Charleston Gazette
MORGANTOWN - When last West Virginia and Louisville met, the Mountaineers did so many things right it was hard to believe they did not win the game.
WVU gets a second chance today at the Coliseum, and this time with a bit more urgency involved in the outcome.
West Virginia (19-10, 10-7 Big East) plays host to the No. 11 Cardinals (23-7, 12-5) in a game that will go a long way toward determining where the Mountaineers are seeded in next week's Big East tournament and whether WVU gets a first-round bye in that event.
Tipoff is at noon (televised by ESPN), and it's the final home game for seniors Joe Mazzulla, John Flowers, Cam Thoroughman, Jonnie West and Casey Mitchell.
"I thought that was a near-perfect game we played,'' Mazzulla said of the Jan. 26 contest at Louisville's new KFC Yum! Center. "Then we went 14 minutes without a field goal.''
Indeed, that was the fatal flaw for the Mountaineers in a 55-54 loss in which WVU gave away an 11-point halftime lead. Beginning at just about the 15-minute mark of the second half, West Virginia went nearly 14 minutes and scored just one point in a 17-1 Louisville run.
While the Cardinals' full-court pressure had something to do with that, mainly it was just cold shooting. The Mountaineers made just four field goals the entire second half.
"We were on the road, went 14 minutes without scoring and we still had a chance to win,'' said Thoroughman, who was one of just seven Mountaineers to play that night - the first game after sophomore Dan Jennings quit the team and leading scorer Mitchell was suspended. "We made some mistakes, sure, but we played pretty well.''
The task now is to repeat that effort, avoid the extended dry spell and try not to let Louisville guard Peyton Siva hit another tough, game-winning layup in the final seconds.
Do that and win and the Mountaineers will almost certainly wrap up the No. 6 seed for the Big East tournament that begins Tuesday at Madison Square Garden. That would give WVU a day off at the start - the top eight teams earn byes - before playing the late game Wednesday.
Lose, though, and there's a chance the Mountaineers might not get a first-round bye. They would finish between seventh and 10th in the seedings, with a No. 9 or 10 seed meaning a Tuesday game and a path to defending its tournament championship that would include five games in five days.
"We know exactly what we're playing for,'' Mazzulla said. "We're playing for an extra day of rest at the Big East tournament, which is a big deal. And we're playing for seeding in the NCAA tournament.''
The latter is already a given, regardless of how West Virginia fares today and in next week's league tournament. Despite being short of 20 wins, WVU has a winning record in the Big East, an RPI of 16 and the No. 2 strength of schedule in the country as of Friday.
West Virginia is generally projected as a No. 6 seed in the NCAA tournament by most, although that could change between now and when the 68-team field is announced a week from Sunday.
Louisville, which is already locked into the No. 3 seed in the Big East (and would play WVU in the Thursday quarterfinals if the Mountaineers are the No. 6 seed and win on Wednesday), is on a four-game winning streak that includes an overtime win over No. 4 Pitt and a 27-point rout of Providence the last two games.
Kyle Kuric, who did not score in the first game with West Virginia, had 25 points against Providence. Preston Knowles leads the Cardinals with a 14.5 scoring average, while Kuric ranks third in the Big East in 3-point shooting percentage and Siva and Knowles are first and third, respectively, in the league in steals.
BRIEFLY: West Virginia coach Bob Huggins is going for his 100th win at his alma mater today. His record in four years at WVU is 99-40 and he is 689-251 overall.
If WVU wins today it will be the sixth seed in the Big East tournament in every possible scenario except this one: Georgetown wins at Cincinnati and both Syracuse and St. John's lose at home to DePaul and South Florida, respectively. In that case the Mountaineers would finish tied for fourth but drop to the No. 7 seed.
If West Virginia loses today, it will still finish as the No. 7 or 8 seed and earn a first-round bye unless Villanova wins at Pitt and Marquette wins at Seton Hall. If that happens, tiebreakers would drop the Mountaineers from a tie for seventh to the No. 9 or 10 seed.
By Dave Hickman
The Charleston Gazette
MORGANTOWN - When last West Virginia and Louisville met, the Mountaineers did so many things right it was hard to believe they did not win the game.
WVU gets a second chance today at the Coliseum, and this time with a bit more urgency involved in the outcome.
West Virginia (19-10, 10-7 Big East) plays host to the No. 11 Cardinals (23-7, 12-5) in a game that will go a long way toward determining where the Mountaineers are seeded in next week's Big East tournament and whether WVU gets a first-round bye in that event.
Tipoff is at noon (televised by ESPN), and it's the final home game for seniors Joe Mazzulla, John Flowers, Cam Thoroughman, Jonnie West and Casey Mitchell.
"I thought that was a near-perfect game we played,'' Mazzulla said of the Jan. 26 contest at Louisville's new KFC Yum! Center. "Then we went 14 minutes without a field goal.''
Indeed, that was the fatal flaw for the Mountaineers in a 55-54 loss in which WVU gave away an 11-point halftime lead. Beginning at just about the 15-minute mark of the second half, West Virginia went nearly 14 minutes and scored just one point in a 17-1 Louisville run.
While the Cardinals' full-court pressure had something to do with that, mainly it was just cold shooting. The Mountaineers made just four field goals the entire second half.
"We were on the road, went 14 minutes without scoring and we still had a chance to win,'' said Thoroughman, who was one of just seven Mountaineers to play that night - the first game after sophomore Dan Jennings quit the team and leading scorer Mitchell was suspended. "We made some mistakes, sure, but we played pretty well.''
The task now is to repeat that effort, avoid the extended dry spell and try not to let Louisville guard Peyton Siva hit another tough, game-winning layup in the final seconds.
Do that and win and the Mountaineers will almost certainly wrap up the No. 6 seed for the Big East tournament that begins Tuesday at Madison Square Garden. That would give WVU a day off at the start - the top eight teams earn byes - before playing the late game Wednesday.
Lose, though, and there's a chance the Mountaineers might not get a first-round bye. They would finish between seventh and 10th in the seedings, with a No. 9 or 10 seed meaning a Tuesday game and a path to defending its tournament championship that would include five games in five days.
"We know exactly what we're playing for,'' Mazzulla said. "We're playing for an extra day of rest at the Big East tournament, which is a big deal. And we're playing for seeding in the NCAA tournament.''
The latter is already a given, regardless of how West Virginia fares today and in next week's league tournament. Despite being short of 20 wins, WVU has a winning record in the Big East, an RPI of 16 and the No. 2 strength of schedule in the country as of Friday.
West Virginia is generally projected as a No. 6 seed in the NCAA tournament by most, although that could change between now and when the 68-team field is announced a week from Sunday.
Louisville, which is already locked into the No. 3 seed in the Big East (and would play WVU in the Thursday quarterfinals if the Mountaineers are the No. 6 seed and win on Wednesday), is on a four-game winning streak that includes an overtime win over No. 4 Pitt and a 27-point rout of Providence the last two games.
Kyle Kuric, who did not score in the first game with West Virginia, had 25 points against Providence. Preston Knowles leads the Cardinals with a 14.5 scoring average, while Kuric ranks third in the Big East in 3-point shooting percentage and Siva and Knowles are first and third, respectively, in the league in steals.
BRIEFLY: West Virginia coach Bob Huggins is going for his 100th win at his alma mater today. His record in four years at WVU is 99-40 and he is 689-251 overall.
If WVU wins today it will be the sixth seed in the Big East tournament in every possible scenario except this one: Georgetown wins at Cincinnati and both Syracuse and St. John's lose at home to DePaul and South Florida, respectively. In that case the Mountaineers would finish tied for fourth but drop to the No. 7 seed.
If West Virginia loses today, it will still finish as the No. 7 or 8 seed and earn a first-round bye unless Villanova wins at Pitt and Marquette wins at Seton Hall. If that happens, tiebreakers would drop the Mountaineers from a tie for seventh to the No. 9 or 10 seed.
