USF Preview
January 20, 2008 10:49 AM | General
January 20, 2008
GAME NOTES
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – The road has been tough for Big East basketball teams this year. Through Saturday’s games Big East road teams are just 9-33. Villanova was the only road team to win yesterday at Syracuse while both Louisville (at Seton Hall) and Pitt (at Cincinnati) lost its road games.
West Virginia looks to buck that trend today when it takes on South Florida at the St. Pete Times Forum in Tampa, Fla. Although not on USF’s home facility, today’s game is still considered a conference road contest.
The Mountaineers’ previous two road games were unsuccessful at Notre Dame on Jan. 3 and at Louisville on Jan. 10.
At Notre Dame, West Virginia made just 5 of 25 from 3-point distance and scored 56 points in a 13-point loss to the Irish. A week later, the Mountaineers scored a season-low 54 points in a nine-point loss at Louisville. In that game West Virginia was 4 of 17 from 3 and shot just 36.4 percent for the game.
Poor shooting has been WVU’s primary culprit in its two league losses. The Mountaineers have shot a combined 33.9 percent (42 of 124) against Notre Dame and Louisville, including 9 of 42 (21.4 percent) from 3.
In last Thursday night’s tough, nine-point victory against St. John’s West Virginia didn’t shoot the ball particularly well, either. The Mountaineers finished the game shooting 43.4 percent after making just 10 of 31 first-half field goal attempts.
For that matter, West Virginia has failed to shoot 50 percent in the first half in each of its last six games dating back to the Canisius win on Dec. 22. West Virginia’s best first half shooting during the six-game stretch came against Syracuse last Sunday when the Mountaineers made 41.2 percent of their first-half field goal attempts.
Overall, West Virginia is shooting 35.6 percent (63 of 177) in the first halves of its last six games. What has kept the Mountaineers in games has been an improving defense that has only allowed one opponent to score more than 70 points this season (Oklahoma).
Opponents are shooting just 39.4 percent and only 32 percent from 3-point distance. An awful rebounding team a year ago, West Virginia is managing a plus-2.7 rebounding margin through 17 games so far this season.
South Florida, under first-year coach Stan Heath, is looking for its second conference victory of the year after starting Big East play 1-4. USF’s lone win in Big East play came at home against Rutgers on Jan. 2.
Six-nine, 270-pound center Kentrell Gransberry leads the Bulls with averages of 16.5 points and 11.1 rebounds per game. The former LSU transfer and Georgetown’s Roy Hibbert are considered the two best big men in the Big East.
Six-four guard Dominique Jones is also having an exceptional year averaging 15.6 points and 4.7 rebounds per game.
South Florida is 6-2 in home games this season and 10-8 overall. It is the Bulls first game at the St. Pete Forum this season.
Tip off is slated for 2 pm and the game will be televised locally on ESPN Plus. MSN’s pre-game coverage begins at 1:30 with the Mountaineers Today. Sirius Satellite Radio listeners can access the game on channel 122. CSTV All-Access subscribers can listen to the broadcast on the Internet through MSNsportsNET.com.
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