Pirate Preview
February 19, 2005 02:07 PM | General
February 19, 2005
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – Seton Hall coach Louis Orr brings a reeling Pirate team into Morgantown Sunday for a mid-afternoon Big East game against West Virginia.
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| Kevin Pittsnogle is coming off a 21-point effort Wednesday night at St. John's.
All-Pro Photography/Dale Sparks photo |
Seton Hall dropped a 66-52 decision to Villanova Thursday night and played without its third leading scorer J.R. Morris, who was suspended for at least one game for what Orr deemed “academic obligations.” The 6-foot-6 swingman is averaging 10.1 points and 5.8 rebounds per game, starting 20 of 21 contests.
The absence of Morris and an inexperienced backcourt that committed 23 turnovers resulted in Seton Hall’s fourth loss in its last five games to drop its record to 11-11, 3-8.
Seton Hall last year advanced to the second round of the NCAA tournament behind the play of seniors Andre Barrett and Marcus Toney-El.
“I think (losing) Barrett is huge,” said West Virginia coach John Beilein. “He’s on the Houston Rockets bench right now and he actually gets into some games. The two seniors really were a part of the resurgence of the Seton Hall program and they’re gone. They’ve got a young back and they’re just searching to find their identity a little bit.”
Six-foot-eight junior forward Kelly Whitney leads the Pirates with averages of 12.5 points and 6.7 rebounds per game. Despite being Seton Hall’s top inside scorer, Whitney is shooting just 42.8 percent from the field.
Six-foot-five forward John Allen is averaging 11.4 points and 5.0 rebounds per game and has also struggled from the field, hitting just 39.5 percent of his field-goal tries.
Six-foot-two guard Jamar Nutter, 5-foot-10 junior Donald Copeland and 6-foot-10 sophomore center Grant Billmeier joined Whitney and Allen in the Seton Hall starting lineup against Villanova.
The trio combined for 15 points and eight turnovers. Six-foot-six former Duke transfer Andre Sweet comes off the bench to average 8.8 points and 5.6 rebounds per game as Seton Hall’s top reserve.
“They’ve played everyone tough. It’s the same as playing us or playing St. John’s, Providence … teams are very, very close but they also have to play 40 minutes to win games,” Beilein said.
The Pirates have conference victories over Rutgers and St. John’s twice.
“They do have a losing record in the league but there are a lot of teams with losing records in the league,” said Beilein. “Villanova, which beat Kansas, finally got above .500 Thursday night. They’re now 6-5 and they beat Kansas like a drum. That’s the story of the league. There are probably going to be more teams with .500 records or below than above in this league.”
On the other hand, West Virginia has won four of its last six conference games and is coming off a 67-66 come-from-behind win at St. John’s Wednesday night. Junior J.D. Collins made a driving layup with 1.8 seconds left to give the Mountaineers their second conference road victory of the season and their fifth overall.
West Virginia, at 15-8, still has hopes of putting itself into a position of being an NCAA tournament bubble team. The Mountaineers got another outstanding effort from center Kevin Pittsnogle Wednesday night. The 6-foot-11 junior scored 21 points against St. John’s and has now scored 27, 13, 10 and 21 points since being inserted into the starting lineup in place of D’or Fischer in the Pitt game on Feb. 5.
Pittsnogle has boosted his scoring average to 9.7 points per game and more importantly, he grabbed eight rebounds in the St. John’s win to lift his rebounding average to 3.1.
“Neither one of our big men seems to be real comfortable unless they’re playing significant minutes and it’s not an attitude thing,” said Beilein. “It’s easier when you know that you’re going to be out there for a long time and you play your way through mistakes. When you come off the bench it’s more difficult. Kevin is playing really well. His eight rebounds were huge the other night.”
Six-foot-seven senior forward Tyrone Sally continues to lead West Virginia in scoring with an average of 12.3 points per game. Sally is just 40 points shy of becoming West Virginia’s 41st member of the 1,000-point club.
Six-foot-four forward Mike Gansey is next with an average of 11 points per game. Gansey is the team’s top rebounder pulling down 5.7 boards per contest.
The Mountaineers have held their opponents to less than 70 points in each of the last three games and six times overall in conference play this season.
Seton Hall holds a 9-8 advantage in series play though West Virginia won the only meeting last year in Morgantown, 69-64.
ESPN Regional (John Sanders and Bob Wentzel) will televise the game. Stations carrying the contest are WCHS (Charleston), WOAY (Beckley), YES (New York), CSS (Atlanta), Cox (Oklahoma City), Cox (Tulsa) and ESPN Full Court. WVFX in Clarksburg will air the game on tape-delay basis at 10 pm.
Tip off is slated for 4 pm and a good crowd is expected.
