Shining Star
February 26, 2006 12:27 PM | General
February 26, 2006
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – All was right in Morgantown Saturday afternoon. The typical stars were aligned with Kevin Pittsnogle and Mike Gansey scoring 21 and 17 points respectively to lead West Virginia to a 68-64 victory over the Louisville Cardinals. However on this day, perhaps no star shined brighter than J.D. Collins.
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| West Virginia's J.D. Collins scored a career-high 13 points and grabbed five rebounds against Louisville on Saturday.
All-Pro Photography/Dale Sparks |
The Houston native scored a career-high 13 points, grabbed five rebounds and dished out three assists at the point of the Mountaineer attack. Collins was 2 of 4 from 3-point range and made 5 of 8 free throws, including the final two that sealed the game.
Collins said afterward that despite missing a pair of free throws the possession before that allowed the Cardinals to get back in the game, he never felt any pressure as he toed the line for the final two.
“I just knew if I missed my dad was going to kill me,” Collins said with a laugh. “I had missed the two before and I looked up at him. I knew I had to knock down the final two but I didn’t really feel any pressure because that’s just me -- I’m calm.”
West Virginia coach John Beilein explained that Collins’ offensive outburst was no surprise to him. In fact, the Mountaineer coaching staff expected the point guard to get plenty of opportunities.
“He hit those 3s and that was what we talked to him about all week in practice. We told him they were going to play off of him and he had to shoot it,” Beilein said.
Despite a slow start to his day offensively, Collins was patient, sensing that his time to score would come.
“I hit that lay up early and then I missed a couple shots and started to get a little hesitant. Then when I hit my first 3, I used a jab step, step-back move that I normally use playing pick-up ball, and after that one went in I felt pretty good,” Collins said.
Collins’ other 3 of the game gave the Mountaineers much-needed momentum as well as a comfortable 53-45 lead with 6:53 remaining.
“On my second 3 they jumped out wide and left me wide open and I passed it off but when I got it back they left me open again and I had to step up and knock it down,” Collins said.
Louisville coach Rick Pitino talked about the steadying influence an unselfish point guard like Collins has over the Mountaineers.
“He reminds me of Anthony Epps, a point guard I had at Kentucky. He had all these great players around him and he just deferred to everybody else,” Pitino said. “If you have a Gansey and a Pittsnogle and a Herber and your point guard thinks shoot-first, it screws up the chemistry of a basketball team. But because he thinks pass-first, that’s what makes them run so well.”
Collins’ scoring ability isn’t lost on his teammates as they witness it first-hand everyday in practice. Pittsnogle says Collins has the ability to put points on the board when called upon.
“He makes great plays when he has to. Normally he doesn’t have to score, he just distributes the ball and runs the offense perfectly, but when we need him, he can score with the best of us,” Pittsnogle said.
Guard Patrick Beilein was thankful for Collins’ scoring efforts and believes his 13 points were the difference in securing this crucial Big East win.
“He was the huge factor for us. I don’t think they respected his shot. They were covering me well on the wing and leaving him wide open. He doesn’t shoot a lot because he’s our point guard and runs our system, but I’m really glad he made shots for us (Saturday),” Beilein said.
Mountaineer fans everywhere are glad, too.
