BBT Notebook

By John Antonik for MSNsportsNET.com
December 8, 2003

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – West Virginia moved its record to 3-2 after Sunday’s 78-77 overtime victory against Maryland in the consolation game of the 2003 BB&T Classic in Washington, D.C.


	Forward Drew Schifino scored 16 points Sunday against Maryland to extend his consecutive double figure scoring streak with 43. (AP photo)

Gonzaga won the 2003 title with a 96-91 win over George Washington. The Colonials advanced to the title game after beating the Mountaineers 70-64.

Here are more notes from the 2003 BB&T Classic:

West Virginia’s win over Maryland was the Mountaineers’ fifth in the last six tries against the Terps since 1987. West Virginia’s last meeting against Maryland came during the 1992-93 season when WVU pulled out an 86-72 triumph in Morgantown. WVU owns a 23-13 all-time record against Maryland.

Although Maryland was certain to exit the Top 25 after losing to Gonzaga Saturday, West Virginia still collects its second win over a ranked opponent under John Beilein, whose first victory against a ranked team came against No. 8 Florida last year in Charleston. No. 25 Maryland was the eighth ranked team West Virginia has faced since Beilein has taken over the program.

WVU has games coming up against Florida, Notre Dame, Connecticut, Pitt and Syracuse.

Since arriving at WVU, John Beilein has already engineered non-conference wins over Florida, Tennessee and Maryland. Beilein’s WVU record now stands at 17-17.

West Virginia’s 13 three-point field goals Sunday against Maryland tied a school record set against Notre Dame on Feb. 2, 2000.

Junior center D’or Fischer’s 20 blocks in his first five games already moves him within 17 of tying both Marcus Goree and P.G. Greene for 10th place in single season blocks with 37. The school record for blocks in a season is 70 by Goree set in 2000.

Fischer and Connecticut’s Omeka Okafor are the only two players in the Big East with more than 20 blocks so far this season. Okafor has 33 blocks in seven games.

West Virginia was out-rebounded 41-30 by Maryland, the fifth time this season the Mountaineers have been out-rebounded by their opponents. The closest West Virginia has come to winning the board battle was at Charleston against Saint Louis when WVU was only out-rebounded 32-30.

West Virginia has yet to have a player grab 10 rebounds in a game this year.

In five games this season West Virginia has allowed its opponents to grab 96 offensive rebounds, an average of 19.2 per game. WVU has pulled down 49 offensive rebounds for an average of 9.8 per game.

Junior forward Drew Schifino extended his consecutive double-figure scoring streak to 43 games with a pair of double-digit efforts against George Washington and Maryland. The 6-foot-3 Pittsburgh native’s scoring average has dipped below 20 points per game for the first time this season (19.8 ppg.) but Schifino has been West Virginia’s top scorer in all five games. Schifino needs just 47 points to become West Virginia’s 40th 1,000 point scorer.

Freshmen Tyler Relph and Frank Young are beginning to play a bigger role in the offense. Against Maryland, Young nailed two big three-point baskets in the first half to score a season-high six points, while Relph nailed a three-pointer and handed out a season-high eight assists.

West Virginia point guards Jarmon Durriseau-Collins and Tyler Relph have combined to hand out 37 assists while committing just 13 turnovers.

Patrick Beilein is West Virginia’s top three-point shooter through five games, making 10 of 18 threes. Beilein has scored double figures in three of West Virginia’s five games this year coming off the bench.

After beginning the year scoring just 12 points in his first two games, sophomore Kevin Pittsnogle has scored 11 against Saint Louis, 16 against George Washington and 10 against Maryland to average 12.3 points in his last three games.

CollegeRPI.com has West Virginia ranked 92nd after five games. Among Big East teams, Providence has the top RPI at No. 10, followed by Boston College (12) and Rutgers (30). St. John’s has the lowest RPI at 206.

West Virginia’s next televised game will be Saturday, Dec. 20, against Florida in the 2003 Orange Bowl Classic. That game will be televised on the Sunshine Network. The Gators will be ranked No. 1 this week after Kansas lost to Stanford.

Three Big East teams are currently undefeated in Boston College, Georgetown and Pitt – each 6-0. Of the three, only Pitt has defeated a respectable opponent in Alabama.

St. John’s is off to one of its worst starts going 1-4 through its first five games. The Red Storm shows losses to Marquette, Fairfield, Hofstra and Duke. SJU’s only lone victory is against Stony Brook.

West Virginia is off this week for final exams and will be back in action this Saturday at the WVU Coliseum against Duquesne. Only five of West Virginia’s first 10 games will be at home. For tickets, call the Mountaineer Ticket Office toll-free at 1-800-WVU GAME or by logging on to www.wvugame.com.

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