Wofford Preview
December 13, 2002 11:40 AM | General
December 13, 2002
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – West Virginia is looking to take some of the bite out of the Wofford Terriers when the two teams meet for a non-conference game at the WVU Coliseum Saturday afternoon.
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| West Virginia coach John Beilein is getting carried away with his team's solid 4-1 start. (All-Pro Photography/Dale Sparks) |
Wofford is 3-2 so far this year and counts a 79-77 win over Big East member Virginia Tech back on Monday, Dec. 2.
In that game 6-foot-4 guard Lee Nixon burned the Hokies for 27 points as the Terriers nailed 13-of-23 three-point field-goal attempts. Six-three guard Mike Lenzly added 16 and leads Wofford in scoring with an average of 17.8 points per game.
Nixon follows Lenzly in the scoring column with an average of 16.4 points per game, while 6-9 sophomore center Tyler Berg averages 12.6 points and 6.4 rebounds per game coming off the bench.
Wofford also starts 6-7 sophomore Jeff Tarr at forward and 6-9 sophomore Sam Daniels at center.
Most recently on Saturday, Dec. 7, Wofford downed Virginia Intermont, 86-56. Lenzly led the way with 22 points and five assists. Berg added 15 off the bench.
Wofford’s two losses have come against Auburn (81-63) and Clemson (79-72) on the road.
West Virginia, meanwhile, is finishing up final exams this week and has not played since defeating UNC Greensboro last Saturday, 64-54 at the WVU Coliseum. That victory boosted West Virginia’s overall record to 4-1.
“We’re 4-1 but we’re not trying to make too much of that,” said West Virginia coach John Beilein. “We’re very young, we’re shooting foul shots at 50 percent but we take care of the ball, we’re learning and we’re anxious to learn about playing better defense and that is allowing us to hang around in games long enough to win a couple.”
West Virginia came back from a seven-point halftime deficit to defeat Greensboro. Sophomore forward Tyrone Sally scored a career-high 20 points and forward Drew Schifino overcame a cold-shooting first half to finish with 15.
Schifino leads the Mountaineers in scoring with an average of 19.6 points per game. The 6-3 sophomore is shooting 46 percent from the field and has grabbed 23 rebounds for an average of 4.6 per game.
“He’s been excellent at just understanding what his strengths are and working on his weaknesses,” said Beilein of Schifino. “He continues to be a hard worker in practice and he’s trying to get better every day. I really like his attitude so far.”
Freshman Kevin Pittsnogle is the only other WVU player averaging double digits at 10.8, although Sally (9.8) is close.
In addition to Schifino, Pittsnogle and Sally, Beilein is also expected to start freshmen Joe Herber and Jarmon Durisseau-Collins at guards.
“We may be starting the youngest team in the country as far as game experience goes,” said Beilein.
Wofford is averaging 76 points per game and is shooting 44.3 percent from the field. West Virginia averages 68.6 points per game and is shooting 46.7 percent. The Mountaineers have an outstanding 78-50 assist-to-turnover ratio.
Tip off is set for 4 p.m. and live MSNsportsNET.com will have live coverage beginning at 3:30 p.m.
