BC Preview
January 23, 2004 09:28 PM | General
January 24, 2004
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – West Virginia takes on Boston College Saturday afternoon hoping to snap a five-game losing streak against the Eagles.
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| Mountaineer coach John Beilein says some players may have to be prepared to play 40 minutes Saturday against Boston College. (All-Pro Photography/Dale Sparks) |
Last year BC downed West Virginia, 75-70 at Conte Forum and three years ago the No. 11-rated Eagles blew out the Mountaineers, 96-65 at the Coliseum. West Virginia’s last win over Boston College came in Morgantown in 1998, a 79-57 decision.
In order for WVU to down a 13-4 BC team that is coming off a home win Tuesday against N.C. State, West Virginia is probably going to have to get major minutes from versatile players like Joe Herber and Tyrone Sally.
“We told them that some guys better be ready to go 40 (minutes) tomorrow,” said Mountaineer coach John Beilein. “It might be a couple of guys who have to do that. That means use the TV timeouts and get the guys plenty of water in between. Joe can do it and J.D. (Collins) might have to do it.”
The Mountaineers will be without the services of 6-foot-6 freshman forward Jerrah Young, who returned to Chicago Friday to attend the funeral of his cousin Norman Miller who was shot and killed on Tuesday.
Beilein also indicated that freshman guard Tyler Relph has been slowed by a bruised shoulder sustained in the Marshall win Wednesday and he isn’t sure if Relph will start Saturday.
“He went through practice today and he looked fine but he hasn’t been able to practice at the level that we need him to practice,” said Beilein. “After we shoot around tomorrow morning and I look at the film I will probably make a decision about who starts.”
Relph’s questionable status could elevate Collins back into the starting lineup, along with Herber in the backcourt. Beilein could go with Sally, sophomore Kevin Pittsnogle and junior D’or Fischer at the other starting spots. Pittsnogle and Fischer started together against Marshall on Wednesday.
Sally had one of his best games of the season against the Herd in Charleston. The 6-foot-7 junior scored West Virginia’s final 5 points and finished the game with a season-high 18 points to go with 7 rebounds.
Herber added 12 points and hauled down 6 rebounds to help West Virginia snap a two-game losing streak and improve to 9-6.
Fischer tops all WVU players with an average of 9.8 points per game. The 6-foot-11 center is also averaging 7.6 rebounds per game and has blocked a team-high 57 shots.
Pittsnogle went scoreless against Marshall on 0 of 10 shooting to drop his average to 8.3 points per game. Sally boosted his scoring mark to 7.7 points per game, while Herber is averaging 7.5 points per game.
West Virginia shot 31.5 percent against Marshall and has failed to shoot at least 40 percent in each of its last two games and five of its last six.
“I think it’s who you play,” said Beilein of his team’s poor shooting. “The adjustment starting with the Georgetown game has probably thrown our timing off a little bit.”
The Mountaineers head into conference play Saturday with a 1-3 league mark and need a win to stay ahead of Virginia Tech, Rutgers and St. John’s in the conference standings.
Boston College has made some alterations to its team after losing All-American point guard Troy Bell to graduation and seeing Ryan Sidney leave school before the start of the fall semester.
Eagle coach Al Skinner is now going with an all-freshman backcourt featuring 6-foot Steve Hailey at point guard and 6-foot-5 Sean Marshall at shooting guard.
The two have combined to average almost 15 points and 5 rebounds per game.
The strength of Boston College is up front, where the Eagles boast one of the conference’s most active front lines comprised of 6-foot-8, 265-pound senior Uka Agbai, 6-foot-7, 255-pound sophomore Craig Smith and rising 6-foot-7 freshman Jared Dudley.
“They’re not overly tall but their thick,” said Beilein of BC’s interior players. “Between Agbai and Smith they’re both 260-pound bodies. We can’t play with our upper bodies and our hands; we’ve got to play with our feet in order to beat them.”
Agbai missed last season with a neck injury but has picked right up where he left off two years ago, averaging 11.3 points and 4.6 rebounds per game.
Smith isn’t quite putting up the same type of numbers last year when he averaged 20 points per game to earn Big East all-rookie honors, but his production is still impressive. The Los Angeles native is averaging 18.6 points and 8.9 rebounds per game.
Smith has reached double figures 16 times this year and has eight 20-point games, including a season-high of 28 points twice against Clemson and Wichita State.
“He doesn’t have the perimeter skills that (Providence forward Ryan) Gomes has yet,” said Beilein of Smith. “But this is a perfect offense for him because he gets his body on people and they post everybody. In their flex they post which is what I think makes him so special. He is in the right program for his particular skills.”
Smith had his way against West Virginia last year in Chestnut Hill scoring 30 on 13 of 19 shooting.
Dudley, a San Diego native, is one of the conference’s biggest surprises. The freshman is averaging 12.8 points and 6.8 rebounds per game. He has led the team in rebounding six times and has reached double figure points in eight games. Dudley scored a career-high 19 points against Villanova and most recently contributed 14 in the N.C. State win.
“They struck it rich with Dudley,” said Beilein. “They had a kid (Dan) Coleman ended up reneging during summer school and they get this kid late who is outstanding. Sometimes the windows close and doors open because they really got a great player there. He’s done really well.”
Seven-foot center Nate Doornekamp, 6-foot-3 guard Jermaine Watson and 6-foot-4 guard Louis Hinnant are BC’s top three players off the bench.
“We have to stay out of foul trouble and they’re a team that puts people into foul trouble,” said Beilein.
Saturday’s game will tip at 4 pm and will be televised by ESPN Regional. Stations carrying the game include WVFX (Clarksburg), WCHS (Charleston), WOAY (Beckley), WTOV (Steubenville, Ohio), WJAL (Chambersburg, Pa.), New England Sports Network (Boston), CSS (Atlanta) and ESPN Full Court.
MSN’s Internet radio coverage begins at 3:30 pm with the pre-game show.
