Cats Clipped
February 04, 2006 03:43 PM | General
February 4, 2006
GAME INFO: BOX SCORE | PHOTO GALLERY
CSTV All-ACCESS: 
BEILEIN POSTGAME PRESS CONFERENCE
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – At halftime with his team getting pounded on the boards and trailing by three to Cincinnati, John Beilein challenged his West Virginia players to get tougher. They responded by scoring the first six points of the second half on the way to beating the Bearcats 66-57 Saturday afternoon in Morgantown.
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| West Virginia's Darris Nichols goes up for a jump shot in the first half of Saturday's game against Cincinnati in Morgantown. The Mountaineers won the game 66-57.
All-Pro Photography/Dale Sparks |
“I know the people on our team and I know they are mentally tougher than they showed in the first half. The whole key to that game was mental toughness,” said Beilein. “They have seniors and we have seniors. Who is going to withstand it?”
It turned out to be the No. 11-rated Mountaineers, now 17-4 and a perfect 8-0 in Big East play. West Virginia made 7 of 18 from 3-point range in the second half and used a 15-5 run midway through the second half to pull away from the Bearcats to stay atop the Big East standings.
In the process, West Virginia became just the fifth Big East school -- and the first since Connecticut in 1993-94 -- to win its first eight conference games.
In the first half, Cincinnati clamped down on West Virginia’s shooters on defense and decided to attack the Mountaineers’ 1-3-1 zone on offense and get the ball up on the glass and let 6-foot-6-inch, 245-pound forward Eric Hicks crash the boards. By halftime, he made 8 of his 10 shot attempts (mostly dunks) for 16 points and also had seven rebounds.
Twenty eight of Cincinnati’s 33 first-half points were inside the paint and the Bearcats had a staggering 28-13 rebounding advantage, including 10 offensive boards.
“We were trying to attack the high post off the bounce,” said Cincinnati coach Andy Kennedy. “They spread out so much and they spread you on those wings. They leave you gaps that you have to take advantage of. We got in there a few times and they close in on you. You have to take what that defense gives you.”
In the second half, Beilein admitted it was a combination of better defense and some more fortuitous bounces of the basketball that kept Cincinnati from continuing to pound away.
“Sometimes it’s going to work and sometimes the ball is going to bounce to us,” Beilein said. “It’s a plan other people have tried to use against us and I can’t tell you that I have an answer. You just don’t know where the ball is going to come out.”
Pittsnogle, a new daddy early yesterday evening, hit a pair of 3s to key West Virginia’s second half run and that loosened up Cincinnati’s defense just enough to give others an opportunity to score.
“Eric really anchors us inside,” said Kennedy. “Now all of the sudden (Pittsnogle) picks and pops and separates himself out on the perimeter and Eric’s natural instinct is to support the basket. As while he’s supporting, Pittsnogle is separating and he wound up hitting two huge shots in the second half.”
West Virginia extended its lead to 12, 57-45, with 6:33 remaining on a 3 from Patrick Beilein, and led by 10, 63-53, with 1:09 remaining following a pair of free throws by J.D. Collins. James White cut West Virginia’s lead to seven, 64-57, on a driving lay up, but Herber answered with two more free throws to ice it.
Cincinnati struggled shooting the basketball, particularly in the second half hitting just 9 of its 25 second-half field-goal attempts for 36 percent. The Bearcats, now 15-8, 3-4, finished the game 25 of 60 for 41.7 percent.
“The thing about West Virginia is if one guy’s off they’ve still got option three, four and five. We don’t have that luxury,” said Kennedy.
West Virginia also had a tough time finding the basket, hitting 23 of 64 for 35.9 percent. But the Mountaineers out-shot Cincinnati 11-to-3 from 3-point range and closed the rebounding gap to just minus-12, 43-31, at the end of the game. West Virginia also forced 18 Cincinnati turnovers.
“They were 4 of 17 in the first half and I knew they were going to come out and continue to shoot the ball and they made a couple in the second half,” Kennedy said. “They did a better job of keeping us off the glass. I thought our shot selection got a little poor.”
Mike Gansey led a balanced West Virginia offense with 14 points, though he was just 6 of 16 shooting the basketball. Gansey also grabbed a team-high eight rebounds. Pittsnogle finished with 12 points and seven rebounds, while Joe Herber added 11 points and handed out a game-high seven assists.
Frank Young and Patrick Beilein scored 9 points each.
Cincinnati’s biggest lead was six, 23-17, with 7:02 left in the first half.
Hicks wound up with 22 points and 10 rebounds for Cincinnati. It was the senior’s eighth double-double in his last 11 games.
“We tried to get a body on him but he’s so strong and he just throws people out of the way. He just gets there,” Beilein said. “In the second half either our defense was better or the ball just didn’t go to him. If it’s within his area he’s getting it like a Charles Barkley.”
Jihad Muhammad scored 15 and James White, battling through a sprained ankle suffered in the South Florida win, contributed 10.
West Virginia now has a five-day break before returning to the road to face No. 9-rated Pitt on Thursday night. The next three games for West Virginia are away from the WVU Coliseum.
“I know our kids mentally need a day off or two for their legs and to just get away from the coaches and each other,” Beilein said.
Cincinnati plays Louisville at home on Monday night.
