Mountaineers Arrive
March 22, 2006 09:53 AM | General
March 22, 2006
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – John Beilein admits his West Virginia team is not facing the same Texas club that committed 24 turnovers in a 76-75 come-from-behind victory over the Mountaineers back on Nov. 21 in the Guardians Classic in Kansas City, Mo.
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| Texas forward Brad Buckman, right, and West Virginia forward Mike Gansey (20) battles for a rebound during the first half in the Guardians Classic Monday, Nov 21, 2005 in Kansas City, Mo.
AP photo/Charlie Riedel |
“They had an awful lot of turnovers against us the first time we played them and I haven’t seen the turnovers since then,” Beilein said. “They seem to be able to execute without turning it over much better right now.”
The biggest difference in the No. 9-rated Longhorns (29-6) is the development of 5-foot-11-inch freshman point guard A.J. Abrams, who is averaging 6.3 points and 2.9 assists per game and has allowed terrific shooter Daniel Gibson to play more on the wing. Abrams scored 16 points on 5 of 8 shooting and also had five assists in the Longhorns’ second-round win over N.C. State.
Gibson scored 20 points on six 3s against West Virginia the first time around and scored a career-high 37 in a game earlier this year against Baylor. The 6-2 sophomore guard is a Bob Cousy Award finalist presented to the nation’s top guard.
Kenton Paulino teams with Gibson in the starting lineup and is averaging 9.9 points and 3.0 assists per game.
In the front court, Texas has a powerful trio that compares favorably to any frontline West Virginia has faced this season, including Connecticut.
Six-five junior forward P.J. Tucker was named the Big 12 Conference player of the year and is averaging a team-best 16.3 points and 9.3 rebounds per game. He also ranks second on the team in field-goal percentage (51.8) and is first in steals with 65.
Tucker had 19 points and nine rebounds in the win against West Virginia.
“I tried to recruit Tucker to West Virginia and he’s a guy that gives everybody problems because he thinks like a guard, he rebounds like a center and he can really pass,” Beilein said. “They have a lot of guys that can present problems.”
Like 6-foot-10-inch forward LeMarcus Aldridge, who preserved the Texas win against West Virginia by coming from behind and blocking Mike Gansey’s game winning shot attempt. Aldridge has a team-best 68 blocks and ranks second on the team in scoring averaging 15 points per game. He has a team-best 57.9 shooting percentage and is grabbing nine rebounds per game.
Six-eight senior Brad Buckman gives Texas another scoring presence in the paint, averaging 9.5 points per game despite missing five full games due to injury. He became the 26th player in school history to reach 1,000 points for his career and now shows 1,085 points.
“The guys that can shoot it shoot it and the guys that can’t don’t,” Beilein said. “That’s something that is hard to get. A lot of times you’ve got a lot of guys shooting it that don’t make them. They really have an understanding of what it takes to win games.”
Sixty six of Texas’s 76 points against West Virginia came from Tucker, Buckman, Aldridge, and Gibson.
Mike Gansey scored 28 and Joe Herber added 16 for the Mountaineers in the Texas loss. Leading scorer Kevin Pittsnogle had a rough night, hitting 4 of 10 shots and finishing with just 9 points. Herber and Pittsnogle failed to cash in on 1-and-1 opportunities with West Virginia leading in the final minute that helped Texas win the game.
“I don’t think until the Louisville game last year that we lost a game in which we led the last minute,” Beilein said. “We had that happen to us in that game and in one of the following games when we lost to LSU when we led by three points.”
Beilein believes West Virginia kept the Texas loss with them for a couple of games.
“We were a different team against Kentucky. That one bothered us at least for the following game,” he said. “Maybe there was a little bit of a loss of confidence but if you look at the teams we played in that one-week span we shouldn’t have beat ourselves up too much for losing those games.”
West Virginia (22-10) is making its second straight “Sweet 16” appearance. The Mountaineers got to Atlanta by beating Southern Illinois and Northwestern State. The Mountaineers were able to out-rebound Southern Illinois and forced Northwestern State into committing 24 turnovers.
“While our rebounding is hard to predict because of the match ups that we’re in, our defense we have a better understanding of what we’re doing. We still get beat in certain situations because of a lack of height and a lack of quickness yet we still play our tails off on defense. We won’t be confused with the best defensive teams in the country, our kids work very, very hard at it.”
The two teams will square off in the Georgia Dome Thursday night. Tip off is set for approximately 9:40 pm following the Duke-LSU game.
Briefly:
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| West Virginia's J.D. Collins boards the team bus on the way to Atlanta.
All-Pro Photography/Dale Sparks |
