WVU to Face Radford
December 22, 2008 02:03 PM | General
December 22, 2008
GAME NOTES
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – West Virginia will sneak in one more basketball game before Christmas against Radford Tuesday night at the WVU Coliseum. Then two days after Christmas, the Mountaineers will travel to Columbus to face Ohio State in a nationally televised game against the Buckeyes on Saturday.
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| West Virginia coach Bob Huggins smiles at a call during last Saturday's 82-46 victory over Miami University in Morgantown.
AP photo |
Radford comes to Morgantown with a 3-7 record after losing 67-55 at George Mason last Saturday.
“This was the only time they said they could play,” West Virginia coach Bob Huggins said. “I just as soon would prefer that the kids get to go home but we didn’t have much choice.”
Huggins says Radford is improving under second-year coach Brad Greenberg. Last year the Mountaineers overcame a sluggish start to defeat the Highlanders, 90-60 in Radford.
Radford lost by two at Virginia (68-66), lost in overtime by two at Navy (73-71) and recently lost by four at home against James Madison (85-81).
“They probably figured they would have won more than they have to this point,” Huggins said.
Radford has a talented 6-11, 260-pound center in Artsiom Parakhouski, who averages 14.2 points and 9.4 rebounds per game. The Highlanders also have a 6-8 forward in junior Joey Lynch-Flohr, who shows averages of 12.9 points and 4.9 rebounds per game.
“They’ve got a 6-10 or 6-11 guy inside that scores the ball,” Huggins said. “They’ve got another big kid inside that has played real well for them. I think their record is a little bit deceiving.”
West Virginia (8-2) is coming off one of its best performances of the season in an 82-46 victory over Miami University at the Coliseum last Saturday afternoon.
Da’Sean Butler scored a career-high 28 points that included the 1,000th point of his career. Butler was 5 of 7 from 3 and helped the Mountaineers make a season-high 12 3-pointers.
Alex Ruoff returned to the lineup after a two game absence to score 15 points and hand out eight assists while playing a team-high 35 minutes.
Freshman guard Truck Bryant contributed 16 points and handed out four assists. Fellow freshman Devin Ebanks injured both his ankle and knee during practice last Friday and was only able to play 11 minutes against the RedHawks.
“He practiced yesterday. He limped around a bit but he did go yesterday,” Huggins said of Ebanks. “Our medical staff said he could go. Devin had a bike back there to keep his knee loose and everything. Once the swelling was out he was fine.”
Tip off for Tuesday’s game is set for 7 pm. MSN’s radio coverage begins with the Coliseum Countdown at 6:30 pm. Fans can also watch the game online through MSNsportsNET.com.
Briefly:
WVU is currently riding a 24-game home winning streak against non-conference opposition.
“That’s how you make your reputation as a league in the non-league,” Huggins said. “We’ve stubbed our toe a little bit like most leagues have. I don’t think there is any question the Connecticut win at Gonzaga was a good win, particularly being down 15 and coming back and winning. Pitt had a good win at Florida State.”
