Men's Basketball: WVU to Battle Canisius
November 17, 2006 03:50 PM | General
November 17, 2006
GAME NOTES
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| Da'Sean Butler |
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – West Virginia returns to the court on Saturday afternoon, taking on 0-1 Canisius in a 4 pm non-conference game at the WVU Coliseum.
The Mountaineers (2-0) are coming off an 87-37 victory over Slippery Rock on Tuesday night. Freshman forward Da’Sean Butler led West Virginia off the bench with 15 points and 9 rebounds against The Rock. Butler is the only WVU player to reach double figures in both games this year and leads the Mountaineers with a 13.0-points-per-game scoring average.
West Virginia is expected to start 6-5 senior Frank Young and 6-8 sophomore Joe Alexander at forwards. Seven-foot senior Rob Summers is expected to get the start at center, with 6-6 sophomore Alex Ruoff and 6-2 junior Darris Nichols getting the starting nod at guard.
Canisius dropped a 72-69 decision to Buffalo in its season opener last Friday under first-year coach Tom Parrotta. Forwards Darnell Wilson and Corey Herring led the Golden Griffins with 17 points each.
Last year, Canisius posted a 9-20 record including a 6-12 mark in the Metro Atlantic Conference. Herring, a 6-5 senior, was the team’s top returning scorer from last season, averaging 14.4 points per game.
Mountaineer coach John Beilein was the head coach at Canisius from 1992-97, leading the Golden Griffins to an 89-62 record, one NCAA tournament appearance and a pair of NIT berths.
West Virginia defeated Canisius 80-68 in Morgantown last year.
Saturday’s home game wraps up a three-game home stand to open the regular season. The Mountaineers are away from the WVU Coliseum for their next five games beginning with three games in the Old Spice Classic in Orlando, Fla., Nov. 23-26.
MSN’s pre-game coverage begins at 3:30 pm. There is no live television for the game.
Following the men’s game, the WVU women’s basketball team (1-2) will play Wofford at 6:30 in its home opener.
