Men's Basketball: WVU to Battle Notre Dame
January 02, 2008 01:51 PM | General
January 2, 2008
GAME NOTES
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – West Virginia has had a couple of days to mull its 88-82 double-overtime loss to Oklahoma last Saturday evening in Charleston. Now it’s time for the Mountaineers to lock in on Notre Dame in their Big East opener.
Notre Dame (10-2) is coming off its final non-conference tune up with a 77-58 victory over North Florida Monday afternoon at the Joyce Center.
Senior Rob Kurz scored a season-high 23 points and grabbed a career-best 13 rebounds for the Irish, now winners of 10 straight including 28 in a row at home.
“You're kind of in a whole new world," Brey said of league play. “We've got to really move forward now.”
West Virginia, also 10-2, has been replaying the opportunities it failed to cash in following its six-point loss to Oklahoma. WVU had the basketball and a three-point lead with 16 seconds left in regulation but turned it over. That resulted in a 3-point Oklahoma basket ahead of the buzzer. The Mountaineers also ran out to early leads in both overtimes but couldn’t close the deal.
The Mountaineers are expected to start the same lineup against Notre Dame it has all year, going with Joe Alexander and Da’Sean Butler at forwards, Jamie Smalligan at center, and Darris Nichols and Alex Ruoff at guards.
Ruoff leads the team in scoring averaging 16.1 points per game. Alexander shows averages of 15.9 points and 6.8 rebounds per game. Butler is averaging 13 points and 5.2 boards per game, while Nichols shows averages of 11.3 points and 3.8 rebounds per game.
Thursday’s game will be the 32nd meeting between the two schools with Notre Dame holding a 23-8 advantage. Six of the last 10 meetings against the Irish have been decided by three points or less.
The game will be televised nationally on ESPN2 (Dave Pasch and Len Elmore). Tip off is slated for 7 pm.
