January 16 Notebook
January 16, 2006 02:31 PM | General
January 16, 2006
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| Gansey |
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – West Virginia’s 104-85 victory over Marquette Saturday afternoon at the Coliseum won’t rank among the top WVU wins at the 35-plus-year-old facility, but in my mind it was one of the more entertaining basketball games I’ve ever witnessed in the building.
Can you recall a team ever scoring 104 points in a game and having only five turnovers and none coming in the second half? One hundred and four points and only FIVE turnovers, are you kidding? That's what West Virginia did.
When else can you recall 3-point shots raining down at the rate West Virginia was firing them in on Saturday afternoon? Mike Gansey came out smoking, hitting his first four 3s and finishing with eight in all. The team made a school and Big East-record 20.
When else have you seen the unselfishness displayed during a key sequence in the second half when Gansey, Joe Herber and J.D. Collins each passed up good looks at 3s to find Frank Young in the corner for the best look? And of course Young coolly stroked the ball through the back of the net.
When else can you recall seeing such a brilliant athletic performance put forth by magnificent Marquette freshmen guard Dominic James, who scored 28 points and climbed to the top of the backboard on one rim-rattling alley oop dunk in the second half? West Virginia coach John Beilein told James after the game that he reminded him of a young Jameer Nelson.
“It was just a great basketball game for everyone to enjoy,” said Beilein. “We’d hate to have lost that game but if we did, I’m sure people would have walked away and said, ‘Wow, this was fun.’”
It was fun.
It’s also fun watching this team grow and wondering just how high it can climb. We all thought last year’s journey was special, well, I have a strong suspicion that this year’s trip is going to be just as memorable.
“When you’ve been doing this so many years I probably need to step back and appreciate this,” Beilein admitted after Saturday’s game. “Or look at the students packed all the way to the top an hour early. I have to appreciate it because it always isn’t this way.”
The reason this team is so good is really simple: they sincerely enjoy being around each other. You can see it with the way they play on the floor and the way they respond to each other when someone else does well.
“They’re good people and good people are not selfish,” Beilein said. “There is a love for their teammates and they want to see them do well.”
Briefly:
The DePaul loss is significant considering the fact that Rutgers has won only one other time on the road during its last 32 Big East road games under Coach Gary Waters.
South Florida is really going to have its work cut out winning a league game this season with the Bulls being down to just eight scholarship players. Marquette has fared the best of the newcomers right now with a pair of league wins over Connecticut at home and over Seton Hall on the road.
After a good early start, as of Sunday the five Big East newcomers are a combined 6-12 in league play. Of those six wins, only four have come against current Big East members.
It's good for other parts of the country to see how tough and unforgiving Big East basketball really is.
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| Fischer |
“In a tight decision, we settled on West Virginia just ahead of 2003 BCS champion Louisiana State and resurgent Notre Dame. Filling out our top five are Ohio State and Florida.
“There's not much not to like about the Mountaineers, whose bowl performance made them look like the strongest team in college football that didn't play in the Rose Bowl or the Fiesta Bowl, in which the Buckeyes beat the Fighting Irish. West Virginia put up a 28-0 lead on eighth-ranked Georgia in the Sugar Bowl and held on for a riveting 38-35 victory in the second-most exciting postseason game.
“West Virginia has everything a team needs to stake its claim to No. 1.”
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| McCann |
Guess which of the eight BCS teams had the fewest players invited to this year’s combines? You guessed it, West Virginia. USC and Ohio State had the most with nine each, followed by seven from both Georgia and Penn State, five from Texas and Florida State, and three from Notre Dame.
Counting early draft entrants, USC has 13 potential pros followed by 12 from Ohio State and eight from Georgia – West Virginia’s Sugar Bowl victim.
BCS misses Miami had 10 players invited and Virginia Tech had eight.
The Cleveland, Ohio, native had been working as an independent contractor for Sate Farm Insurance in Mc Kees Rocks, Pa., since 1981. His son Scott is a walk-on member of the WVU football team.
Our heartfelt condolences go out to the entire Macerelli family.
I would shudder to think how many emails I would have had to sift through had Steve Slaton fumbled at the 2 and a Georgia player scooped up the ball and run for a game-winning touchdown in the Sugar Bowl. I would probably still be going through them.
Thankfully, I’m not.
Have a great week!
