NIT Preview
March 14, 2007 08:32 PM | General
March 14, 2007
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – West Virginia will face one of the nation’s top shot blockers in 6-foot-8-inch Stephane Lasme when the Mountaineers take on Massachusetts Thursday night in an NIT second-round game at the WVU Coliseum.
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| Alex Ruoff and Frank Young celebrate West Virginia's 74-50 victory over Delaware State Tuesday night at the WVU Coliseum.
All-Pro Photography/Dale Sparks |
Lasme has 165 blocks in 32 games to rank second in the country. The Libreville, Gabon, native had nine blocks in UMass’ 89-87 overtime victory over Alabama in Tuesday night’s NIT first-round game.
“He will block shots but we cannot let it affect the team,” Beilein said. “All of a sudden a guy starts blocking shots and no one wants to take it in there anymore. A blocked shot doesn’t mean the end of the world. It becomes more effective if you let it bother you.
“Just like when a guy gets hit with a backdoor that bothers people. You hit a 3 and that bothers people,” Beilein said.
Massachusetts (24-8) has a very athletic team comparable to some of the more athletic teams West Virginia has faced in the Big East. The Minutemen average 77.3 points and 40.6 rebounds per game; UMass goes 6-9, 6-8, and 6-7 up front with a 6-6 shooting guard in James Life.
“I would say they are a lot like the Connecticuts, the Providences and the Villanovas. They are very athletic all over the place,” Beilein said.
Lasme led Massachusetts with 21 points and six rebounds against Alabama. Guard Chris Lowe added 19 points and six assists. Six-nine forward Rashaun Freeman contributed 10 points and 10 rebounds.
Freeman is the team’s top scorer averaging 15 points per game. The Schenectady, N.Y., resident has made 204 of 333 field goal attempts for 61.3 percent. Lasme averages 13.5 points and 9.4 rebounds per game; forward Gary Forbes averages 13 points and 5.9 boards per contest.
Life leads the team with 83 3-point field goals and is shooting 38.8 percent from behind the arc. He averages 11.3 points per contest.
“They have a couple of guys who are great shooters and just a very talented team with a lot of veteran experience. They have a lot of guys that are fifth-year, transfers, or prep school which make them an older, wiser team,” Beilein said.
St. Louis knocked Massachusetts out of the Atlantic 10 tournament in the first round in Atlantic City, N.J., in overtime. The Minutemen’s last two games have been extra-session affairs.
Massachusetts owns a non-conference victory at Louisville on Dec. 13, and out-of-conference losses at Pitt (85-68), at home against Boston College (84-73), at Kentucky (82-68) and at home against Miami (72-71).
Adding an intriguing element to Thursday night’s game is the return of 7-foot center Luke Bonner. The Concord, N.H., resident played on West Virginia’s Elite Eight team in 2005 before opting to transfer to UMass. After sitting out last year, Bonner has appeared in 30 of 32 games this season, averaging 1.6 points and 1.2 rebounds per game. He is shooting 29.5 percent from the field.
“We had that one time when we were playing against St. Bonaventure (guard Tyler Relph) so once a kid decides to depart the program we just wish them well,” Beilein said. “We don’t go any further than that. We want them to do well and we want ourselves to do well.”
Massachusetts is coached by former Kentucky standout player Travis Ford, who is 37-23 at UMass and 165-134 overall in 10 seasons.
West Virginia is coming off a 74-50 victory over Delaware State on Tuesday night. The Mountaineers jumped out to a 39-13 lead and was in complete control of the game. Senior Frank Young scored 17 and sophomore Alex Ruoff added 14 points and nine assists for the winners.
Young (95) needs six more 3-points to tie Chris Leonard’s 15-year school record of 101 3s made in 1992. Young made two 3s against Delaware State Tuesday night and leads the team with a 14.2-points-per-game average. Joe Alexander (11.1), Ruoff (10.6) and junior guard Darris Nichols (10.6) are also averaging double figures.
West Virginia has won 11 straight non-conference games at the Coliseum and is 30-2 at home against non-conference foes in five years under John Beilein.
UMass last played in Morgantown on Jan. 27, 1995, when the No. 1-ranked Minutemen pulled off a memorable 97-94 overtime victory after being down 18 with 4:48 left in the second half.
Good tickets still remain and can be purchased by calling the Mountaineer Ticket Office toll-free beginning Thursday morning at 9 am at 1-800-WVU GAME. Fans can also go online to purchase upper level seats at WVUGAME.com.
WVU students can purchase tickets for $4 beginning Thursday morning at 10 am. The first 500 students will get into the game free courtesy of Coca-Cola.
ESPNU will televise the game nationally. Tip off is schedule for 9 pm.
