Senior Night
March 02, 2008 07:37 PM | General
March 2, 2008
GAME NOTES
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| Nichols | Smalligan |
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – Senior Darris Nichols said a couple of weeks ago that he wants to play his final game at the WVU Coliseum against Pitt on ESPN’s Big Monday. Well, Nichols and WVU teammate Jamie Smalligan can take a big step toward doing that with a win over the 21-8 Panthers.
West Virginia (20-9, 9-7) is still in control of its own postseason destiny despite suffering a 79-71 loss at Connecticut on Saturday. The Mountaineers are tied with the Panthers for sixth place in the Big East standings and one more victory would assure them of a better than .500 record in conference play. That might be enough to get them into the Big Dance.
“At this point in time honestly it’s not about anybody else – it’s about us,” said West Virginia coach Bob Huggins. “If we go do what we’re supposed to do and we win two games then I’m pretty relaxed on selection Sunday.”
West Virginia needs to protect its home court against a Panther team that won just its third game in league play on the road in the Big East on Saturday at the Carrier Dome. Pitt came from 11 points down in the second half to beat Syracuse 82-77.
Forward Sam Young scored 19 points to reach double figures in scoring for the 28th time in 29 games this year. Young’s numbers this year makes him a contender for Big East player of the year honors. The 6-6 junior is averaging 18.2 points and 6.5 rebounds per game while shooting 50.8 percent from the floor. Young has also improved his outside game, making 35 of 85 from 3-point distance for 41.2 percent.
Young scored 10 points in 26 minutes of action in the Panthers’ 55-54 win over the Mountaineers in Pittsburgh on Feb. 7.
Ronald Ramon won the game at the buzzer with a 3-point shot from the corner. Levance Fields did not play in that game recovering from an injury but he has since returned to the lineup. He is one of three Panther players averaging double figures (10.9 ppg.).
Six-seven freshman center DeJuan Blair is averaging 12 points and 9.5 rebounds per game.
Keith Benjamin scored 17 points against Syracuse to boost his scoring average to 9.6 points per game. Gilbert Brown came off the bench to contribute 12 against the Orange – his eighth double figure game of the year.
Pitt’s other conference road wins came at South Florida and St. John’s.
West Virginia, meanwhile, fell behind by 17 in the first half before rallying to pull within three early in the second half. Forward Joe Alexander scored a career-high 32 points to go with 10 rebounds to lead the Mountaineers.
Alexander is now averaging 15.1 points and 6.0 rebounds per game.
“Joe has got to realize or understand that is what’s expected – that’s the norm,” Huggins said of Alexander’s performance Saturday against the Huskies. “The great teams that I’ve been associated with had a great player. We had a guy that knew that, alright, we’re missing some shots here so jump on my back. We need a rebound, I’ll get the rebound. We need a stop then I’ll make the play. Joe is talented enough to do that.”
Others averaging double figures for the Mountaineers include Alex Ruoff (14 ppg.), Da’Sean Butler (12.3 ppg.) and Darris Nichols (11.1 ppg.).
Butler and Nichols have both struggled shooting the basketball in their last four games. Butler is 17 of 46 against Villanova, Providence, DePaul and Connecticut for 36.9 percent while Nichols is 10 of 29 during that span for 34.5 percent.
Nichols scored a game-high 16 points in the Pitt loss on Feb. 7.
Game time is 7 pm and the game will be televised nationally on ESPN (Sean McDonough, Jay Bilas and Bill Raftery).
MSN’s pre-game coverage begins with The Mountaineers Today at 6:30 pm.
Briefly:
Smalligan has played two seasons with the Mountaineers after transferring from Butler.
Junior guard Ted Talkington will also take part in Senior Day activities. Talkington has elected to enter medical school next year.
Panther coach Jamie Dixon is now tied for fourth with Bruce Stewart among all NCAA coaches for the most victories through his first five years of coaching with 126.
Dixon’s overall record is now 126-38 in five seasons at Pitt, placing ahead of the pace set by UNLV’s Jerry Tarkanian (122-20), Syracuse’s Jim Boeheim (122-30), West Virginia’s Fred Schaus (120-32), Larry Brown (120-38) and Michigan State’s Tom Izzo (120-48).
