Gator Bites
December 04, 2002 11:32 AM | General
December 4, 2002
CHARLESTON, W.Va. – West Virginia freshman guard Jarmon Durisseau-Collins says Drew Schifino had a good feeling about Tuesday’s Florida game.
 |
||
| Guard Drew Schifino scored seven points during a key 13-minute stretch in the second half to help West Virginia defeat Florida 68-66. |
The two were talking in the hotel Monday night. “He said we can beat them,” said Durisseau-Collins.
Whether or not Schifino actually believed it or not is now a moot point.
The Mountaineers took care of the basketball, controlled the tempo and upset the No. 7-rated Gators, 68-66 Tuesday evening in Charleston.
Florida came into the game with a 4-1 record having just defeated No. 2-ranked Kansas in the preseason NIT. Florida won 22 of 31 games last year including six straight against nationally ranked teams.
Although Florida has a young team this season, some still predicted a first-place SEC finish for the Gators.
West Virginia, meanwhile, had close wins over Delaware State and James Madison sandwiched between a road loss at Duquesne.
Schifino scored a career-high 33 points against the Dukes and has become the team’s top scoring threat, reaching double figures in each of his last 13 games dating back to last year and averaging 20.1 points per game through four contests.
His play drew attention from Florida’s defense Tuesday night and despite that he still managed to score 18 points, including seven during a key 13-minute stretch in the second half.
“I knew when it was a close game with three minutes to go that we were going to come out with a win,” he said.
Schifino began the game with a three-point play and ended the half with another to close Florida’s lead to one, 30-29.
It was also Schifino who blocked Brett Nelson’s go-ahead three-point shot with five seconds left in the game. “I knew he was going to try and shoot it because he’s a good three-point shooter,” said Schifino. “So I had to play him tight and I came up with a big block.”
Because of his long arms and great athletic ability, West Virginia coach John Beilein believes Schifino can become an outstanding defender, too.
He grabbed five rebounds and handed out two assists while committing just one turnover against Florida’s pressing defense. Schifino says the team works on ball handling every day in practice.
“We’ve got drills to help us not turn the ball over,” he said.
The Pittsburgh native believes a great deal of credit should also go to freshmen guards Joe Herber and Durisseau-Collins for Tuesday’s win.
“All of the freshmen have stepped it up,” Schifino said. “They have done an unbelievable job all year and they came up big this game.”
Herber hit the go-ahead basket on a step-back three with 37 seconds left and finished the game with 11 points, three assists and two rebounds.
Durisseau-Collins only scored one point, but he played a terrific floor game handing out five assists and grabbing six rebounds. He turned the basketball over just one time in 39 minutes.
The victory pumps life into a West Virginia basketball program that was in desperate need of something good happen to it. The Mountaineers endured a miserable 2002 season in which egos and selfish play led to an 8-20 season and the premature retirement of record-setting coach Gale Catlett.
And while Beilein may not have the most talented team in the country this year, he does have a group of players who will play hard for all 40 minutes.
“For whatever reason, West Virginia just totally outplayed us,” said Florida coach Billy Donovan. “It seemed like they got every loose ball.”
Schifino believes a victory like Tuesday’s can make a world of difference for a young team. “If we can beat Florida we can beat anyone in the Big East,” he said. “They are definitely going to the NCAA tournament. Now we feel like we can compete with anyone in the Big East.”
Beilein, a veteran coach of 25 seasons, knows there is still a great deal of work to be done. "This win doesn’t mean a thing against UNC Greensboro on Saturday," he said.
Perhaps in the back of Beilein’s mind is the fact that Duquesne, which defeated West Virginia a week ago in Pittsburgh, lost to Maryland by 50 on Nov. 30 and also shows losses to Cleveland State and George Mason. The coach knows this is a long process and there are still plenty of bumps left in the road.
But he also understands that he can use the Florida game as a handy reference whenever things get rough in the future. That is invaluable to a team that starts three freshmen and two sophomores.
Post-game Notebook:
* West Virginia’s win over No. 7-ranked Florida is the highest ranked team the Mountaineers have defeated since downing No. 6-ranked Connecticut, 80-62 at the WVU Coliseum on Feb. 11, 1998. It is just the sixth victory against a Top 10 team since 1983 for the Mountaineers.
* Beilein made a classy reference to Coach Gale Catlett’s 1998 “Sweet 16” team during his post-game radio interview: “I want to have teams with a bunch of no-name players like that one that plays hard every game,” he said.
* Tuesday’s victory was Beilein’s 450th as a collegiate coach. He ranks among the Top 30 in wins among active Division I coaches.
* West Virginia has the luxury of bringing two talented seniors off the bench. Forward Chaz Briggs kept West Virginia in the game with four first-half points and finished with eight, while Josh Yeager nailed a key three-point basket midway through the second half and finished the game with five points. The two combined for 13 points and three rebounds in 23 minutes of action.
* Although freshman Kevin Pittsnogle didn’t reach double figures, he did score eight points and converted a pair of key free throws down the stretch to keep West Virginia to within one of the Gators. Pittsnogle attempted only four shots, making two. He also grabbed three rebounds.
* Turnovers have taken a dramatic turnaround. Last year West Virginia was awful handling the basketball, giving up an average of 17.7 per game. So far through four games this season, West Virginia has turned the basketball over just 38 times in four games for an average of just 9.5 per game. Also, WVU has an impressive 59-38 assist-to-turnover ratio.
And while some of that is due to Beilein’s playing style, a major reason is because of the hard work the team has done in taking care of the basketball.
* West Virginia evened its series record against Florida at 3-3.
* Maybe there was something to playing Florida on Dec. 3. West Virginia owns an impressive 13-6 all-time record in games played on that date.
* I couldn’t help but think that somewhere, someplace in Memphis former Mountaineer great Jerry West picked up the newspaper Wednesday morning and had a great big grin on his face when he read the West Virginia-Florida score. The same goes for New Jersey Nets director of basketball operations Rod Thorn.
