Florida Preview
December 02, 2002 01:55 PM | General
| By John Antonik for MSNsportsNET.com
December 2, 2002 CHARLESTON, W.Va. – The West Virginia University men’s basketball team has a tall order in front if it Tuesday night.
That’s when the Mountaineers meet No. 7-ranked Florida (4-1) for a non-conference match up at the Charleston Civic Center. West Virginia coach John Beilein understands what his young team is up against. “We can only do what we can do at this point,” he said Monday morning before leaving for Charleston. “We’re in an infant stage as far as being able to do all of the things you need to do to execute against a great team like this.” The game with Florida was scheduled soon after Beilein took over for retired coach Gale Catlett last April. “It sort of came up between Matt Brown, my assistant coach, who was on Billy Donovan’s staff at Marshall,” said Beilein. “Ever since Matt ended up coming to me they have remained close.” Beilein is using this game as an opportunity to showcase major college basketball in West Virginia’s capital city. “I read between the lines in the state sometimes and I feel that we have got to do all we can to be visible in the southern part of the state,” said the coach. “Basketball is tremendously important to this state and we need to get down to Charleston as often as we can. We’re bringing great, talented basketball to Charleston.” The game represents the return of St. Albans native Brett Nelson to Charleston. Nelson, the state’s player of the year as a prep senior, is a prominent member of a Gator program that reached the Final Four during his freshman season. Last year, the 6-foot-4, 205-pound guard earned second team all-SEC honors after averaging 14.6 points per game. This year he has been hobbled by a stress fracture in his right foot and missed the Gators’ first three games of the season. However, he returned to action for the NIT semifinals in New York against No. 2-ranked Kansas, helping Florida defeat the Jayhawks 83-73 on Nov. 29. It was the highest ranked team Florida has defeated on the hardwood. The guard scored nine points off the bench in 21 minutes of action against Kansas and he is just five points shy of passing Chip Williams for 22nd place on Florida’s all-time scoring list. Nelson enters Tuesday’s game with 1,242 career points. Six-six freshman forward Matt Walsh is the team’s leading scorer averaging 20.8 points per game. He scored 22 points against Kansas had a season-high 26 points against Louisiana Tech on Nov. 19. Six-one freshman guard Anthony Roberson ranks second on the team in scoring with an average of 14 points per game, while 6-10 senior forward Matt Bonner is averaging 12.8 points and 5.4 rebounds per game. Six-three senior guard Justin Hamilton rounds out Florida’s double-digit scorers with an average of 10 points per game. The Gators show victories over Louisiana Tech, Eastern Illinois, Coastal Carolina and Kansas, and just one loss to Stanford. Meanwhile, West Virginia is coming off a 70-67 victory over James Madison Saturday night at the WVU Coliseum to improve to 2-1 on the season. Sophomore guard Drew Schifino scored 18 points and freshman center Kevin Pittsnogle added 17 points and five rebounds to help the Mountaineers improve to 2-0 at home. West Virginia’s two home wins have come against Delaware State and James Madison while WVU’s lone loss of the year came at Duquesne, 86-82. Schifino, a 6-3, 200-pound, Pittsburgh native, leads the Mountaineers with an average of 21.7 points per game. Pittsnogle is the only other WVU player averaging double figures at 14.3 points per game. Tuesday’s match up against the No. 7-rated Gators represents the first time since Dec. 2, 2000, that the Mountaineers will play a top 10-ranked non-conference team. On that date two years ago, West Virginia narrowly lost to No. 7-ranked Tennessee, 79-78 in Morgantown. The contest will be the sixth in a series that first began in 1963. Ironically, that game also was played in Charleston – a 114-67 West Virginia win. Florida leads the series by a 3-2 count and the two teams last played in 1971 in Gainesville. The Sunshine Network will televise the game in Florida and the contest can also be purchased as part of ESPN’s Full Court package. MSN’s radio coverage will begin at 6:30 p.m. and will be carried on MSNsportsNET.com. Tickets are still available and can purchased by calling the Mountaineer Ticket Office toll-free at 1-800-WVU GAME or by ordering them locally in Charleston at the Civic Center Box Office by calling 345-1500. Tip off is set for 7 p.m.
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