Men's Basketball: Mountaineers Take on Vikings
December 05, 2008 04:29 PM | General
By Steve Stone for MSNsportsNET.com
December 5, 2008
GAME NOTES
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. - After a 15-day break from playing at home, West Virginia returns to the Coliseum when they take on Horizon League foe Cleveland State on Saturday, Dec. 6, at 1 p.m.
The Mountaineers (5-1) are coming off a neck-and-neck 80-78 road victory over SEC opponent Ole Miss on Wednesday night, going 4-of-5 from the charity stripe down the stretch and forcing sophomore guard Chris Warren to heave a long three-pointer that fell short at the buzzer.
Senior guard Alex Ruoff leads WVU with 15.8 points per game, while junior Da'Sean Butler follows with 14 points and 6.5 rebounds per game. The Newark, N.J, native led the Mountaineers with 22 points on 9-of-13 shooting in their resume-building win over the Rebels.
Contributing mightily off the bench has been freshman guard Darryl “Truck” Bryant, who is averaging 10.5 points and shooting a team-best 75 percent (21-of-28) from the free throw line.
Sophomore reserve John Flowers has also been a spark for WVU, going 22-of-32 from the field thus far. The Waldorf, Md., native led the Mountaineers with 14 points in their 87-68 win over Iowa in the Las Vegas Invitational, and made a crucial three-pointer with 1:53 left against Ole Miss to give WVU a 75-73 lead.
The Vikings (5-3, 1-1) are coming off a 50-48 buzzer-beating defeat to Butler, which has been known as the class of the conference over the past decade. However, the Vikings entered the season ranked No. 1 in the Horizon League Preseason Poll after finishing with a 21-13 overall mark in 2007-08, including a 12-6 conference record as well as an NIT berth.
“Their game against Butler last night was a heck of a game,” Coach Bob Huggins said. “They really had control of the game for the majority of the game. They were picked to win their league, and we want to play the best teams in whatever league they are in. That helps you a lot more and helps your RPI a lot more.”
CSU is led by 6-foot-5 forward J’Nathan Bullock, who averages 14.5 points, 6.9 rebounds and is shooting nearly 42 percent from three-point range. The Flint, Mich., native garnered his first Horizon League Player of the Week honor after leading the Vikings to three wins in the CBE Classic’s Miami Regional last week.
“He’s athletic and aggressive,” Huggins said of Bullock. “He can really run and likes contact.”
WVU has an all-time mark of 2-0 against the Vikings, with both meetings coming in the 1976-77 and 1977-78 seasons. In the Mountaineers’ first contest against CSU, Huggins started the game and finished with seven points en route to a 107-69 victory.
Following Saturday’s contest, the Mountaineers will head to Madison Square Garden for a nationally-televised matchup against No. 22 Davidson as part of the Jimmy V Classic on Tuesday, Dec. 9. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m. on ESPN.
