Flying High
December 30, 2006 05:17 PM | General
December 30, 2006
BOX SCORE | PHOTO GALLERY
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. - Frank Young led all scorers with 22 points and Da’Sean Butler chipped in 16 to lead West Virginia to an 81-71 upset of No. 12 Connecticut Saturday afternoon at the WVU Coliseum.
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| West Virginia's De'Sean Butler scores two of his 16 points in the first half of Saturday's game against Connecticut at the WVU Coliseum.
All-Pro Photography/Allison Toffle |
Through the first 11 games of the season, many media pundits looked at this young West Virginia team’s 10-1 record with a suspect eye. Sure, they had won five consecutive games in impressive fashion leading up to Saturday’s tilt with the Huskies, but many wondered how they would fair against the upper-echelon of the Big East.
On Saturday afternoon in front of 11,903 raucous fans, the Mountaineers answered those critics emphatically. West Virginia took control of the game at the midway point of the first half and was never seriously threatened the rest of the way.
“We have worked awfully hard over the last five years to make sure that when people come into our building, no matter who they are, or how good they are, they are always going to be in a test,” West Virginia coach John Beilein said. “I didn’t know how we would respond against that type of talent in our place. Obviously I am very pleased.”
With the game tied at 8, at the 15:37 mark of the first half, the Mountaineers ignited a 13-1 run over the next four minutes of play. Butler got it started, scoring seven straight points on two driving lay ups and a three pointer to stretch the lead to 15-8. Darris Nichols added another driving lay in and Young hit a 3 from the corner, to give the Mountaineers a comfortable advantage.
While the Mountaineers were making shots at one end of the floor, they were using their stifling 1-3-1 zone to confuse, frustrate, and bewilder, the Huskies at the other end. UConn only turned the ball over six times in the first half, but they were unable to get the high percentage shots close to the basket that they are accumstomed to. Last year’s Huskie squad dissected the 1-3-1 zone for a flurry of dunks and easy lay ups. This year, Connecticut’s youthful team was unable to score with the same proficiency.
“The 1-3-1 zone looked like a Rubik’s Cube to us tonight,” veteran Connecticut coach Jim Calhoun said. “We prepared as hard for it as ever. We probably spent three solid hours over the course of the last few days preparing. We even cut up clips of last year’s game here to show the kids how we moved the ball for easy lay ups and shots. We just didn’t have the personnel to finish those plays today.”
West Virginia shot 48 percent in the first half and held the Huskies to just 37 percent. Connecticut’s Doug Wiggins hit a 3 with 48 seconds to go in the half to pull the Huskies within to within five at 36-31. That was the closest they had been to the lead since the Mountaineer run midway through the first half and it appeared the visitors would get some much-needed momentum heading into the locker room. That momentum was thwarted seconds later when Rob Summers tipped in a Butler miss as the halftime horn sounded, giving West Virginia a 38-31 advantage at intermission.
The Mountaineers actually out-rebounded the larger Huskies 20-19 in the first half.
As second half play began, Joe Alexander wasted no time making sure that momentum would stay with the Gold and Blue. In the Mountaineer’s first possession of the second half, Alexander received the ball on the wing and was guarded tightly by UConn’s Jeff Adrien. Alexander gave him a quick jab step, and when Adrien came closer, Alexander exploded past him down the left baseline, finishing the play with a rim-rattling two-handed jam that took the roof off of the Coliseum.
Over the next five minutes the Mountaineer lead hovered between six and eight until West Virginia put together a 12-3 run that pushed their advantage to 60-45 with 11 minutes to play. The run was capped by two Nichols free throws that came after official Reggie Greenwood whistled Calhoun for a technical foul.
“When we got the lead into double digits I thought it was way too early but thankfully every time they would hit a shot we would come right back and hit key baskets. I thought our team played with a lot of poise,” Beilein said.
WVU ran into some foul trouble in the second half. Alexander and Alex Ruoff each had three fouls midway through the second half and Beilein went to his bench, playing guard Joe Mazzulla and forward Devan Bawinkel for extended minutes against Connecticut’s vaunted pressure defense. Nichols and Mazzulla even shared the same backcourt for a period during the second half to combat the Huskie’s quickness. The Mountaineer bench was up to the task, never allowing UConn to put a serious dent in the lead.
“We expected foul trouble,” Beilein said. “They are so good it is just hard to guard them without fouling. “Our bench stepped up for us.”
West Virginia (11-1, 1-0) shot an impressive 49.1 percent for the game, despite making just 6 of their 21 three-point attempts. The Mountaineers answered the Huskie’s tight man-to-man defense by constantly driving for easy lay ups.
“We are thought of as more of a three point team, but people are going to recognize now that we have the ability to put the ball on the floor against good competition and get to the basket,” Nichols said.
West Virginia was also solid at the foul line, converting 71 percent of the foul shots including 20 of 27 in the second half to hold the Huskies at bay.
The Mountaineers battled gamely on the boards with the larger Huskies. UConn had a 46-36 rebounding advantage, but it was a far cry from past games when the Huskies have dominated the Mountaineers on the boards for routine stick back baskets.
“The rebounding advantage is a wash,” Calhoun said. “We out rebounded them by 10, but to beat West Virginia today we needed to dominate the rebounding like we have in the past.”
The Mountaineers continued their stellar play defensively, holding Connecticut to just 39.1 percent shooting for the game.
“There is no question that they are a better defensive basketball team than they have been the past couple of years,” Calhoun said.
Young and Butler were joined in double figures for the Mountaineers by Nichols and Alexander, who scored 14 and 12 points respectively.
Connecticut (11-1, 0-1) was led by Wiggins with 20 points.
The victory marks the Mountaineer’s first win over Connecticut since the 1998 season. It is Beilein's first win over the Huskies in five tries.
West Virginia returns to action this Wednesday when they host Villanova. Tip-off from the WVU Coliseum is set for 7:30 p.m.
