Back in the Skillet
February 13, 2006 06:03 PM | General
February 13, 2006
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – Fresh off its win at No. 17 Georgetown Sunday night, No. 11-rated West Virginia jumps right back into the frying pan Tuesday night at Seton Hall.
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| West Virginia's battles Georgetown's Jeff Green for a loose ball during Sunday's Feb. 12, 2006, Big East game in Washington. West Virginia won 69-56.
AP Photo/Nick Wass |
The Pirates (15-7, 6-4) are coming off their worst loss of the season against No. 1 Connecticut last Saturday, dropping a 99-57 to the Huskies at home. Seton Hall will be looking to make amends from its 42-point loss after having won six of its last seven games.
Included in that win streak was a pair of wins over nationally ranked N.C. State and Syracuse – both on the road. Seniors Donald Copeland (15.7 ppg. and 4.5 apg.) and Kelly Whitney (15.0 ppg. and 7.7 rpg.) have been Seton Hall’s two most consistent performers.
Copeland, a 5-10 guard, scored a career-high 25 points in win over Tulane earlier this year and is third in the Big East in assist-to-turnover ratio. The 6-foot-8-inch, 240-pound Whitney has been a tough match up for West Virginia in the past and is averaging 17.7 points over his last 12 games. He is averaging 17.2 points in Big East games this year.
Teaming with Whitney at forward is 6-5 sophomore Brian Laing, who averages 6.0 points and 3.2 rebounds per game. Expected to start at center is 6-10, 252-pound junior Grant Billmeier, who sports averages of 4.0 points and 3.7 rebounds per game.
Six-two junior guard Jamar Nutter joins Copeland in the backcourt and averages of 12.1 points and 4.2 rebounds per game. Nutter has reached double figures in 10 of his last 11 games.
Six-seven junior Stan Gaines and 5-11 freshman Paul Gause are Seton Hall’s top two players off the bench, averaging 5.7 and 6.3 points per game respectively. Gause hit the game-tying shot to send the St. John’s game into overtime and recently scored a career-high 18 points in the South Florida win.
Gaines, a Minnesota transfer, has been out since the Villanova game due to multiple facial fractures and could return to action Tuesday night against the Mountaineers. When he does return he will wear a protective mask.
West Virginia (18-5, 9-1) played one of its best games of the year at Georgetown on Sunday night, overcoming an 11-point first half deficit to comfortably beat the Hoyas 69-56. Senior center Kevin Pittsnogle rebounded from a 4 of 29 shooting slump by hitting 10 of 15 against Georgetown for a game-high 25 points. Mike Gansey and Joe Herber added 13 points each for the Mountaineers.
Pittsnogle’s 25 points moves him into 15th place on WVU’s career scoring list with 1,506 points. The Martinsburg resident is averaging 18.9 points and 6.0 rebounds per game.
Gansey’s average has dipped to 18 points per game but he is still shooting a blistering 58.4 percent from the floor for the season. Herber, who has started all 118 games of his career, lifted his average to 9.4 points per game after the Georgetown win.
Last year West Virginia and Seton Hall split games. The Mountaineers won 96-86 in Morgantown and lost in East Rutherford, 66-63. Seton Hall holds a slim 10-9 advantage in series play dating back to 1978.
Tuesday night’s Seton Hall game is the final leg of a three-game road trip that has seen the Mountaineers face Pitt on Thursday night and Georgetown on Sunday.
Game time is 7:30 pm and the contest will be televised locally on Fox Sports Pittsburgh. Fans outside the viewing area can listen to MSN’s radio coverage on Sirius Satellite Radio channel 110.
Briefly: West Virginia dropped one spot in the ESPN/USA Today Top 25 poll to 11th and two spots to 11th in the latest Associated Press Top 25 poll … Joe Herber will break Chris Brooks’ school-record of 118 career starts Tuesday night against Seton Hall … Herber already owns the school record for career minutes played with 3,820 and needs just 10 points to become the school’s 43rd 1,000-point scorer … West Virginia’s nine Big East wins are now the most in one season under Coach John Beilein … the Mountaineers are now 29-29 in Big East action since Beilein took over prior to 2003 campaign … West Virginia has won 55 of its last 58 games when leading in the final minute.
