Ruoff to Return
December 19, 2008 01:58 PM | General
December 19, 2008
GAME NOTES
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – West Virginia will have one half of its starting backcourt available for Saturday’s noon game against Miami University at the WVU Coliseum.
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| Senior guard Alex Ruoff recently scored his 1,000th career point during West Virginia's 53-43 win over Cleveland State.
All-Pro Photography/Dale Sparks photo |
Senior Alex Ruoff said Friday morning that he will be ready for the Red Hawks after missing West Virginia’s last two games against Davidson and Duquesne with a rib injury. Ruoff said he first injured the rib landing on his back during the Cleveland State game.
“I had to get the rib pushed back in because it was causing a bunch of spasms,” Ruoff said. “I had to wait for the spasms to go down.”
Meanwhile, Joe Mazzulla is still in limbo after being diagnosed with what he called a “growth plate fracture” on his left shoulder. Mazzulla said there is no timetable set for his return.
“There is a lot of swelling and it’s inflamed so we’re doing what we can to try and monitor it,” Mazzulla said.
Mazzulla indicated that surgery is a last resort.
“That’s the last thing that we want to do,” he said. “We really don’t want that at all because it’s a really long process. There is a good chance with what the doctors are doing that it can heal on its own.”
That means another start for freshman Truck Bryant at point guard on Saturday against a very good Miami University team. Bryant is coming off a career-high 18 point performance in the Mountaineers’ 68-63 victory at Duquesne in which he made four clutch free throws down the stretch.
Bryant shows averages of 10.8 points and 2.4 assists per game.
Devin Ebanks is another freshman that is developing rapidly. The Long Island City, N.Y., resident has pulled down 44 rebounds in his last three games – all double-doubles. Ebanks has increased his averages to 8.1 points and 7.1 rebounds per game.
Da'Sean Butler continues to lead the Mountaineers in scoring with an average of 14.7 points per game. The junior is also grabbing 6.9 boards per game.
Wellington Smith shows averages of 6.7 points and 4.3 rebounds per game while John Flowers has averages of 7.0 points and 4.9 rebounds per game for the 7-2 Mountaineers.
It is unclear whether or not Coach Bob Huggins will start Ruoff on Saturday. Still, the coach is happy to have his senior back out on the floor.
“I’m hoping it will help us offensively and not just his scoring. He passes the ball so well and he understands how to play,” Huggins said. “He’s a guy that we can run some things and put the ball in his hands and he can make good decisions with it.”
Huggins is extremely impressed with a 6-3 Miami team that shows losses to nationally ranked UCLA, Pitt and Xavier. The red Hawks come into the Coliseum riding a four-game winning streak.
“They’re really good. They are extremely well coached, they really shoot the ball and they don’t make mistakes,” Huggins said. “It’s a veteran team. You’re talking about senior guards. Actually the one, two, three and four positions are all seniors. They know how to play.
“They’ve been coached in that system for four years and anytime you can get four seniors that are skilled as they are and be able to keep them together for four years you’re going to have a heck of a team. Charlie (Cole) has got a great team,” Huggins said.
Six-foot-five-inch, 225-pound senior forward Michael Bramos is averaging 20.2 points and 3.4 rebounds per game.
“He doesn’t miss any shots,” Huggins said. “He’s got great range and he can create a shot and they do a great job of getting him open.”
Six-two guard Kenny Hayes also averages double figures at 13.9 points per game. The red Hawks start a pair of 6-8 players in Tyler Dierkers and Adam Fletcher. Of the two, Dierkers is the better scorer and rebounder (8.9 ppg. and 7.1 rpg.).
Game time is set for noon and the contest will be televised nationally on ESPNU. MSN’s radio coverage begins with the Coliseum Countdown at 11:30 am.
Briefly:
“Fortunately I don’t have any of that under the muscle,” Mazzulla said. “It’s just the fracture itself.”
Mazzulla said he could tell right away during the Davidson game that it was going to be a futile effort.
“I didn’t really push it before the Davidson game so I didn’t really know what to expect,” he said. “I was just going to go and see what I could do and Davidson kind of picked up on it early. I was not an offensive factor and I kind of re-injured it on the foul and I just said that was enough. I was hurting the team by being out there.”
The big issue for Mazzulla now will be trying to remain in basketball shape so when he does return he can be effective on the court.
“I’m doing a lot of swimming exercises. Under water my range of motion increases tremendously so I’m able to do a lot of different things,” Mazzulla said. “I’m able to do treadmill and I’m able to do legs every other day so I’m keeping my legs in shape.”
“They have a great coaching staff; Charlie Cole is a good guy,” Ruoff said. “The guys they have there are like the guys we have here – genuine, good character guys and I really liked them because I’m from that area but West Virginia was just a better choice for me.”
“We gave them a day off. We’re a little beat up so we’re trying to get something done and get everybody healed up in the process,” Huggins said. “They’ve got more time to spend on basketball - I don’t think there is any doubt about that.”
